BJP national President Nitin Gadkari has cancelled his planned trip to poll-bound Himachal Pradesh for working out legal strategies regarding a “vilification” campaign against him by a section of the media.

Gadkari had addressed election rallies in Kinnaur and Shimla last Saturday and Congress and other political parties have questioned BJP corruption probity, on which it has based its campaign in state for Nov 4 poll.

Gadkari earlier in the day threatened to file civil and criminal cases against media houses “defaming” him as part of a “conspiracy” allegedly hatched by the Congress. He alleged that the certain media groups are acting as ‘dalals’ (agents) of Congress party. He stated that the two English TV channels and one English national daily are behind the vicious campaign against him and are playing into the hands of Congress.

He is under attack over dubious funding of Purti Power and Sugar Limited controlled by him with media reports alleging that major investments and large loans to it were made by a construction firm Ideal Road Builders (IRB) group, which had won contracts between 1995 and 1999, when he was Public Works Department minister in Maharashtra.