JAMMU: Former Minister and senior Congress leader Sham Lal Sharma on Saturday joined the BJP here at party headquarters.
Mr Sharma was welcomed into BJP fold by the state president Ravinder Raina and senior leader and In-charge J&K affairs Avinash Rai Khanna.
Earlier there were speculations that Mr Sharma will join the BJP amid the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 28 at village Doomi Malpur in Akhnoor tehsil where he addressed a public gathering.
Akhnoor constituency is a political bastion of Mr Sharma from where he remained three times MLA.
He also remained minister during PDP-Cong government in 2002 and 2008 when NC-Congress was in power in Jammu and Kashmir.
He lost to a BJP candidate in 2014 from his hometown constituency when the saffron brigade won historic 25 seats from Jammu region.