Shimla : After letting matters drag on to the point of no return in Himachal Pradesh’s ruling BJP the high command is suddenly alarmed and has gone into damage control mode .
National president Nitin Gadkari has summoned top leaders of the state from both the factions led by chief minister P.K.Dhumal and the other by veteran Shanta Kumar among a host of other state leaders to New Delhi .
Kangra M.P. Rajan Sushant who has been embarrassing the party by targeting Dhumal for going soft on corruption in the past year will also attend the crucial meeting along with J.P. Nadda .
Last week the ruling BJP suffered a major set back when a few senior rebel leaders including Maheshwar Singh , Radha Raman Shastri , Mohinder Sofat and Shyama Sharma left the party and floated the Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP) .
Some of the disgruntled BJP workers have already started trickling into the HLP camp over the past few days which has the BJP worried .
Shastri and Maheshwar Singh had accused Dhumal of promoting corruption and indulging in illegal land transactions which they said had forced them to leave the BJP .
They even attacked Gadkari for not addressing their complaints which only speeded up their exit from the party.
Observers say the high command is obviously very concerned with these senior leaders leaving the party and forming their own outfit as the state goes to the assembly polls later this year .
Insiders say attempts could still be made to woo them back into the party . While others say it is too late now to get them back , perhaps they could somehow stop the rebillion and exodus !
In a 20 year career published widely. He has worked for the BBC, AFP, The Statesman, IANS and the Business Standard . Known for his hard hitting writing and occasional off-beat stories. He lives in Shimla.
