BJP gets ambitious, may target Congress at Centre

The BJP8217;s hopes may, of course, be stillborn but rumblings within the Congress today indicated that the knives are out for Kesri following his foolhardy ultimatum to the United Front to dismiss the Kalyan Singh Government. Two known Kesri-baiters, Rajesh Pilot and Mamata Banerjee, launched the first attack with statements criticising the Congress president for making an 8220;unconstitutional8221; demand against a government which had proved its majority on the floor of the House.

A split in the Congress has long been a BJP fantasy which it hesitated to play out for fear of failure. But now, BJP strategists feel that the myth of an unbreakable Congress has been exploded with the developments in UP and that the party is a 8220;soft8221; target in its present demoralised mood.

The BJP8217;s chief tactician, Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, is parked in Delhi and is believed to be carrying out hectic negotiations with Congress MPs who are reviewing their options within the party after today8217;s humiliation by a Government dependent on their support.

Significantly, Shekhawat was the prime mover and shaker in the stunning events in UP. According to BJP sources, the leader of the breakaway Congress group in the State, Naresh Aggarwal, met Shekhawat on Sunday in the Capital and finalised the modalities of the split which set the ball rolling for Kalyan Singh to retain his government.

Shekhawat apparently got the go ahead from Vajpayee as well as party president LK Advani and gave Aggarwal the assurance he wanted 8211; that his group8217;s 8220;interests8221; would be 8220;protected8221;, a euphemism for cabinet berths and BJP tickets whenever assembly polls are held. The sources said that Aggarwal was wanting to join the BJP for a long time but was frightened away by the factionalism within the UP unit of the party. The running battle between Kalyan Singh and the Kalraj Mishra-Lalji Tandon group never quite let the negotiations with Aggarwal take off till Vajpayee stepped in. The turning point was the last dinner meeting with the BSP at Vajpayee8217;s residence where the BJP finally realised that it needed an 8220;insurance8221; against the Kanshi Ram-Mayawati duo8217;s unpredictable politics.

Party8217;s gains

The BJP has succeeded in doing away with its 8220;untouchability8221; by getting support from breakaway factions of almost all the political parties in UP.