BJP chief to skip Himachal rally

BJP president Nitin Gadkari has decided to skip his planned election campaign in Himachal Pradesh on October 30. This is the first major disruption in his public programmes after corruption allegations against him have surfaced in the media.

Gadkari, who slammed media houses and threatened legal action against them for their alleged slander campaign against him, is likely to be busy in "legal consultation" work on Tuesday, BJP sources said on Monday. He is likely to be in Nagpur or Mumbai for this purpose.

According to the election campaign planned by the party's central election coordination unit, Gadkari was slated to be in Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday.

Though the BJP president is slated to be in Himachal Pradesh on October 31 too for campaigning, there was no clarity on whether he will join the election campaign on that day.

The change in plan holds significance in view of the fact that the party had stood behind him and announced that all his plans will continue as scheduled. "All programmes (of Gadkari) will continue as per schedule," BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman had said last week. In fact, Gadkari had subsequently addressed an election rally in Kinnaur (Himachal Pradesh) on October 27.

ALSO READ

Railway bribery case: Nephew rose from obscurity, worked behind the scenes

For AMU students, wearing sherwani no issue

Polls today, Cong pins hope on BSY

CBI raids top armyman for graft in ration procurement