Shimla, Apr 20 (IANS): Himachal Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) dissident Mohinder Sofat on Saturday rejoined the party he had quit ahead of the 2012 assembly elections.

A sizeable section in the BJP, including party veteran and former Chief Minister Shanta Kumar, favoured his return to the party, a senior party leader told IANS.

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur welcomed his return.

Sofat had joined the Himachal Lokhit Party, an outfit launched by BJP dissidents, in February 2012.

The Himachal Lokhit Party, headed by BJP rebel and four-time former MP Maheshwar Singh, had alleged that top party functionaries, including former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and his MP son Anurag Thakur, who is again in the fray, are neck deep in corruption.

Maheshwar Singh had already joined the BJP ahead of the assembly election in 2017.

Sofat had alleged that the party leadership had "become a party to the corrupt deals" of Dhumal and his cabinet colleagues, including Rajeev Bindal, now the state Assembly Speaker.