In a bid to diffuse the crisis brewing in Himachal Pradesh,BJP President Nitin Gadkari on Saturday held a three-hour long meeting with party rebels,who have formed an anti-graft front led by former Himachal BJP president Maheshwar Singh,and assured them that the party will find a new road-map to its approach towards organisational affairs in the state. To quell possibilities of any rebellion ,the BJP High Command had,last week,removed Maheshwar Singh,a three -time Lok Sabha member,from the national executive as its first disciplinary action against Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumals detractors. On Saturday evening,however,the rebels recieved a boost as two Dhumal ministers,four MLAs and sitting Kangra MP Rajan Sushant joined them when they met Gadkari. The rebels ministers and MLAs had earlier kept their distance from Maheshwar Singh and his six member core team. A rebel leader said: The meeting was held in a very cordial atmosphere and the party president gave us a patient hearing. We placed all the issues on record and offered some documentary support to substantiate the issues. Finally,General Secretary J P Nadda - who is also a senior leader from the state - was asked by Gadkari to study the documents and arrange them chronologically and draw-up a summary of the issues so that a decision can be taken. The party sources,however,made it clear to the rebel that doors for discussions were open but only through the party channels and not through other platforms. The cracks in the party had been widening for quite sometime. While Rajan Sushant was the first to revolt against the chief minister,he was soon followed by ministers and Kangra MLAs - who met Gadkari a few months back to seek changes in the party s organisational set-up with the removal of Dhumal loyalist Khimi Ram from the state BJP presidents post. The ministers and MLAs - who belonged to Shanta Kumar camp,also had complained against IPH minister Ravinder Ravi for his undue interference in Kangra. They even raked up some corruption and land sale issues allegedly involving some BJP leaders close to the chief minister,say sources. They wanted restructuring of the partys state unit immediately with new party chief to be made in command of the things before 2012 assembly elections at the year end. Back in Shimla,there is disquiet in the Dhumal camp though many believe that meeting with Gadkari was routine and no immediate decision can be taken about steps which will follow after discussions with the chief minister who is campaigning for the two bypolls in the state.
