SHIMLA: Days after former Union minister and senior Congress leader Pandit Sukh Ram was snubbed by the Congress leadership by denying him an invite to Rahul Gandhi’s rally at Mandi on October 7, Sukh Ram along with his son Anil Sharma and grandson Ashray Sharma joined BJP on Saturday.According to information, Sukh Ram had reached Mandi from Delhi on October 6 to attend the rally but at the behest of senior Congress leaders who allegedly do not share good political relations with him, he was not invited to the rally. His son Anil Sharma was panchayati raj minister in Virbhadra cabinet.Despite being known for scandals around corruption and sleaze, Sukh Ram is said to have an impressive clout in the Mandi district. In 2012 assembly election, the Congress and the BJP had won five seats each in the Mandi district, but with Sukh Ram and family joining the BJP, the saffron party has gained an edge in the district.It is said that Sukh Ram, Anil Sharma and Ashray Sharma joined the BJP after meeting BJP national president Amit Shah in Delhi. According to sources, the Congress leadership tried its best to pacify Sukh Ram, and AICC general secretary and state party incharge Sushil Kumar Shinde even held a meeting with him.Earlier during the day, Anil Sharma had posted on Facebook that Congress would return to power with the success of “mission repeat” campaign but late in the evening he posted another post to announce his joining the BJP.Anil announced on Facebook that he had resigned from the state cabinet to join the BJP as he wanted to contribute his bit to fulfil Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘New India’.Interestingly, Ashray was also the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee secretary and in charge of the Seraj assembly constituency in Mandi district from where he was earlier seeking the Congress ticket.