Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP), a big faction of Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) that had come out before the Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh is now on a verge of winding up. The HLP mainly supported by the Shanta Kumar faction in the party against the then Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and his coterie took a political revenge against the later and is now again planning to remerge in the parent party.
State party president and sitting MLA Maheshwar Singh on Sunday expelled the party vice president Khushi Ram Balnatha for his anti-party activities. Mr. Balnatha a known Shanta Kumar supporter was also the organisational in-charge and a core committee member of the HLP. He was most instrumental in forming the new outfit of anti-Dhumal forces and contributed a lot in the BJP’s ouster in 2012 assembly elections. Virbhadra Singh of Congress formed the government with a thin majority after triangular contests on majority seats and the HLP disturbing the BJP’s much hyped "operation-repeat".
A number of HLP leaders including former MLAs K.D. Dharmani and Dulo Ram have already left the party and have joined either the BJP or Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). There would be a major exodus in the coming few days, said the party sources. Although the party chief in a statement on Sunday warned the other members to adhere to party discipline yet he is himself unsure about the continuation of this party, claimed the sources.
The BJP is wooing him day and night to come back to the party fold and fight Lok sabha elections from his traditional seat of Mandi against Chief Minister’s wife Partibha Singh, who was defeated by him in earlier elections.
The BJP has not announced the ticket from Mandi parliamentary seat so far and is pressurising Mr. Maheshwar Singh who is still close to the senior party leaders in Delhi and Mr. Shanta Kumar. Mr. Singh is an erstwhile ruler of Kullu State and wields a considerable influence on the electorate in Mandi. He is a four-time Lok Sabha MP and lost to the Congress nominee with a narrow margin in 2009.
Politics in Himachal Pradesh is highly polarised between the two major parties and smaller outfits always line up with one or the other. It is only the Left, however insignificant, that is still maintaining its identity. Khushal Bhardwaj of CPI(M) has already been announced as a joint left candidate from Mandi. The AAP cadre might also support him this time since it is reluctant to field a candidate from here.
