COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

BJP sacrifices Kalyan for BSP support

Sharat Pradhan in Lucknow

In a desperate bid to save the Vajpayee government, the BJP leadership is understood to have accepted the Bahujan Samaj Party's precondition for support -- axing Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh, top officials disclosed on Saturday.

The BSP has five members in the Lok Sabha, whose support becomes crucial to the survival of the 12-month-old Vajpayee-led coalition government after the withdrawal of support by the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.

Sources close to the chief minister told Rediff On The NeT, "Since the central leadership has already agreed to accept BSP leader Mayawati's pre-condition, there is every possibility of Kalyan Singh stepping down from office shortly."

But there is indecision in the BJP about Kalyan Singh's replacement. Earlier, Union Human Resources Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi was tipped for the post. But Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly Speaker Kesri Nath Tripathi is believed to have opposed the choice. Both Tripathi and Joshi hail from Allahabad and are believed to be at daggers drawn.

Another argument within the party against the choice of Joshi is that it may not be PC to replace a backward-class politician (Kalyan Singh) with a Brahmin (Joshi). The same argument derailed the chances of former state BJP chief Kalraj Mishra.

Following this, the name of Union Minister of State for Petroleum Santosh Gangwar, who hails from Bareilly and is a backward-class politician, began doing the rounds late on Saturday evening. But it was unclear whether the BSP would approve of him. Political pundits suggested BSP president Kanshi Ram would prefer to have a forward-caste politician in the saddle because that makes it easier for him to withdraw support later.

On record, Mayawati, a former chief minister of the state, denied any move to strike a deal with the beleaguered BJP. But she was evasive on the BSP's stand on the fate of the Vajpayee government.

This pact, if it comes off, will be the third such understanding between the BJP and the BSP. Both previous agreements, which were confined to Uttar Pradesh, had failed to last.

Mayawati is sore with Kalyan Singh because the BJP politician was responsible for staging a virtual coup in her party in 1997, when he engineered a vertical split in the BSP and enlisted the support of the breakaway group.

The two parties had earlier entered into a rotational arrangement whereby Mayawati and Kalyan Singh were to head six-monthly coalitions in the state. But once Mayawati completed her first six-month term, she began harassing her successor Singh. Sensing more trouble ahead, the BJP politician split her party and stayed on as chief minister.

Singh, who has been holed up in his official bungalow at Kalidas Marg ever since news of his impending replacement reached him this morning, met a large number of party workers and politicians. "Kalyan Singh was not his normal self and is already behaving as if he has stepped down," one legislator remarked.

Singh later cancelled all his engagements for the afternoon, including an appointment with the electronic media, and refused to entertain phone calls.

State BJP president Rajnath Singh declined to make any comment on the matter, though he had been in the forefront of the 'oust Kalyan' campaign that had been brewing for quite some time within the BJP.

Kalyan Singh's other major detractor, Housing and Urban Development Minister Lalji Tandon, maintained, "We have been hearing that such talk was going on in Delhi between BJP and the BSP, but I am not aware whether such a deal has finally been struck."

A section of the BJP had charged Kalyan Singh with "nepotism, favouritism and an arbitrary style of functioning." An 'anti-Kalyan' lobby, fuelled by Cabinet colleagues Kalraj Misra and Tandon, besides the state BJP chief, had been active for quite some time and the demand for his removal was echoed at different intervals over the 17 months he has been in power.

Trouble was sparked again recently by the resignation of minister of state for family welfare Devendra Singh 'Bhole', who promptly got the support of other disgruntled BJP politicians.

Over a dozen MLAs went to Delhi and apprised Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, BJP president Shashikant 'Kushabhau' Thakre, and Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani of the resentment against Kalyan Singh in Lucknow. The delegation was told to 'wait and watch' and keep a low profile.

Apparently, the dissidents' crestfallen mien misled the chief minister into believing that an already beleaguered BJP leadership was in no position to take action against him. He went on a belligerent spree, showing contempt for his detractors and claiming that he was there to stay and complete his term.

But, obviously, Delhi has decided to kill two birds with one stone -- save the Vajpayee government and tide over the turmoil in Uttar Pradesh -- by offering Kalyan Singh's head as the price.

EARLIER REPORTS:

Detractors gun for Kalyan again
No threat to me or my government, says Kalyan Singh

Tell us what you think of this report