Omalpe Sobhitha Thera, leader of the Jathika Hela Urumaya, has refused have a one-to-one meeting with its former Deputy General Secretary Udaya Gammanpila when the latter informed the JHU Leader that he wished to meet him, Asian Mirror reliably learns.

Gammanpila had told Sobhitha Thera that he wanted to meet him to clear the air on a remark the JHU Leader made at the press conference which was held after Gammanpila’s crossover.

Responding to Gammanpila’s telephone call, Sobhitha thera had said that he did not want to meet the Provincial Councilor for a private meeting, under any circumstance.

“If you want to clear the air on my statement you can speak to me. I don’t want to meet you personally,” Sobhitha Thera had said.

A senior spokesman of the JHU, speaking to Asian Mirror, told on Tuesday that he was speaking to PS members of the party over the phone and exerting pressure on them to join the government.

“Some of the PS members switch off their phones when they see Gammanpila’s number. Some, who need money, respond to his calls. PS members usually get a monthly pay of Rs. 4000 and they have to cover their expenses with the money they receive for various projects. The JHU, at the moment, is not worried too much about the ground-level. Our main focus, at this point, is national level politics and our national agenda. Other concerns have become secondary matters,” the Spokesman added.

When asked whether Gammanpila was trying create a split in the party, the spokesman answered in the affirmative. “We don’t know what his motives are. Maybe he is under pressure from the government to create a split in the JHU. But, the JHU national level leadership is firm in its position and nothing is going to change in the party.

However, two PS members of the JHU have already joined the government and pledged support to President Mahinda Rajapaksa. It is also learnt that Gammanpila is to hold a meeting for over 20 PS members of the JHU this week, in Colombo.