Advani in Dharamsala for IPL tie

Dharamsala, May 17
The arrival of senior BJP leader and former Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani to Dharamsala today added political overtones to the ongoing IPL season here.

Advani arrived at Dharamsala in a chartered flight with Kingfisher owner Vijay Mallya. He is here in Dharamsala till May 19 and expected to see the match between Kings XI Punjab and Royal Challengers Bangalore today.

The Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) will host a dinner for Advani at the international cricket stadium. All leading BJP leaders from the state have been invited for the dinner.

Advani is scheduled to meet the Dalai Lama at his residence in McLeodganj tomorrow. He will also be accompanied by the Chief Minister.

Sources here told The Tribune that the senior leaders of the party were likely to discuss state-related issues with Advani. They were peeved with Rajan Sushant.

Without taking the state leadership into confidence, Sushant had also floated a front to raise the issues of the state with the Centre.

The state leadership of the party was pressing for action against Sushant and the matter was likely to be discussed with Advani, the sources said.

Sushma Swaraj, the leader of the Opposition in Parliament, was also expected to visit Dharamsala for the IPL match scheduled on May 21 between Kings XI Punjab and Deccan Chargers, they said.

The HPCA had also invited national president of the BJP Nitin Garkari. However, he did not come due to the Karnataka government controversy.

The leadership of the party would also discuss the Cabinet expansion and installation of the new state president of the party with Advani. A Cabinet berth had been lying vacant since the former Forest Minister JP Nadda resigned after being given the position of general secretary in the national party structure of the BJP.

Warm welcome at airport

Kangra (OC): LK Advani was accorded a rousing reception on his arrival to the Kangra airport this evening.

He was received by Chief Minister PK Dhumal, BJP vice-president Shanta Kumar, ministers of the Dhumal Cabinet and HPCA president Anurag Thakur, besides hundreds of BJP workers and MLAs.