The party's core group meeting attended by Dhumal, vice presidents Shanta Kumar and Kalraj Mishra besides others discussed the preparations for assembly polls and the latest in state politics in the wake of appointment of former chief minister Virbhadra Singh as Chairman of Congress campaign committee and underscored the need to close ranks.
The meeting decided that the party would hold joint rallies to be addressed by Kumar and Dhumal besides other leaders to accomplish "mission repeat" aimed at re-installing a BJP government in the state aftyer the forthcoming polls.
The first such rally would be held at Kangra on July 8 during the three-day national executive meeting of BJYM.
BJP General Secreatry Ram Lal and J P Nadda, state party chief Sat Pal Satti, BJP chief Nitin Gadkari and leaders of BJP in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Sushama Swaraj and Arun Jaitley would also address the Kangra rally.
The marathon meeting held at Chandigarh continued for two days and decided to fight the election on the plank of development with the "corrupt face of Congress" being a major poll issue, state BJP chief Sat Pal Satti said.
Dhumal said, "Things have been settled and the positive outcome is that we all will work together for Mission Repeat."
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BJP sources said the party leadership decided not to take disciplinary action against BJP MLA Khushi Ram Balnatah (a Shanta loyalist) for his outburst against chief minister in a letter to Gadkari and left him with an advice that grievances if any should be raised only on party platform.
However, there was complete unanimity on taking action against the suspended BJP MP from Kangra Rajan Sushant, who was continuously attacking the government and accusing it of corruption, party sources said.
Sources said the party finally decided to shut doors on Himachal Lokhit Party ,a political outfit floated by BJP dissidents and headed by former BJP MP Maheshwar Singh, who had recently turned down a formal request by the state BJP President to come back.
On Virbhadra Singh being made the Congress poll campaign committee chief, the party leaders opined it would give an advantage to the BJP as charges had been framed against him by a court in a corruption case. PTI/PCL
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