They are connected by family ties but separated politically.

Congress greenhorn Ashray Sharma, who learnt politics for years from his father Anil Sharma, a Cabinet Minister in the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) state government, is in the fray from Mandi Lok Sabha seat.

He is pitted against BJP's first-time MP Ram Swaroop Sharma.

The father and son belong to the political dynasty of former Union Telecom Minister Sukh Ram, 91.

Popularly known as Panditji in his bastion of Mandi, six-time MLA and three-time MP Sukh Ram and his grandson Ashray Sharma rejoined the Congress on March 25 after quitting the BJP.

At the launch of the Congress campaign, BJP leader Anil Sharma announced that he would campaign for his party but not against his son.

"I have made it clear to my party high command, including Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, that I will not campaign against my son in his constituency," Anil Sharma told IANS.

But as a party worker, he would campaign for BJP candidates in other constituencies.

"I will also not share any public platform against my son. If the party does not support my stand, it is free to take any action against me," Anil Sharma added.

Not agreeing with the Minister, Chief Minister Thakur was categorical that Anil Sharma was a BJP leader and he has to campaign for the party even in Mandi.

"If he doesn't want to campaign for the BJP in Mandi, then he has to resign both from the Cabinet and the party. We can even remove him from the Cabinet and the party," Thakur told IANS.

Taking a jibe at his rivals, Ashray Sharma said "his father's soul is in the Congress while only the body is in the BJP".

In the campaign, his grandfather Sukh Ram is leaving no stone unturned to wrest Mandi from the BJP.

He is devoting his maximum time and energy in the constituency to ensure a Congress win.

"My grandson is seeking votes on the basis of my devotion with the people of Mandi," Sukh Ram said.

Political observers say Ashray Sharma is also cashing in on the legacy of his father Anil Sharma.

Anil Sharma, a MLA from Mandi, was a Minister in the state in 1993-97 and in 2012-17.

The Sukh Ram family joined the BJP just before the 2017 Assembly polls, with the former Minister saying he was being constantly humiliated by Virbhadra Singh.

State BJP General Secretary Chander Mohan Thakur has asked Anil Sharma to clarify whether or not he would campaign for the party in Mandi.

"He would have to campaign in Mandi, which he represents in the Assembly, if he wants to stay in the party," he said.

Interestingly, Sukh Ram's tainted past has given an opportunity for Ashray Sharma's rivals to target him.

Sukh Ram has been dubbed an 'Aya Ram Gaya Ram'.

Sukh Ram had to resign as the Communications Minister in the P.V. Narasimha Rao government in 1996 in the wake of a financial scandal involving purchase of telecom equipment from a Hyderabad-based firm.

His known rival Virbhadra Singh, a six-time Chief Minister, is distancing himself from the new Congress entrant in his campaign.

The Mandi Lok Sabha seat has been a traditional Congress bastion and it lost it for the first time in 1977.

The constituency, which includes Kullu, Mandi and some areas of Chamba and Shimla districts, besides the tribal-dominated Assembly constituencies of Kinnaur and Lahaul and Spiti, is one of the country's largest.

(Vishal Gulati can be reached at vishal.g@ians.in)

--IANS

vg/pg/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)