DEHRA DUN, NOV 9: Within moments of Uttaranchal Chief Minister Nityanand Swami's swearing-in, the pitched battle fought between his supporters and detractors not only indicates the extent of factionalism within the ruling BJP here but also does not augur well for his one-day old government.Twenty out of the 23 BJP legislators are learnt to have written to party high command yesterday, protesting against Swami's appointment. However, they all came round to the central leadership's request not to raise the issue during the Legislature Party meeting presided over by Murli Manohar Joshi and Kalraj Mishra. However, the legislators have not been able tojustify Swami's appointment to grass-root workers.Uttaranchal BJP leaders were so angry at Swami's appointment that they heaped insults on party legislators, holding them responsible for allowing Swami to take the top slot. Party workers climbed up the podium immediately after the swearing-in and raised anti-Swami slogans. They were joined by some MLAs who then went to the MLAs' Hostel at Dron Hotel and clashed with Swami's supporters. The police had to intervene to placate the two factions. This also disrupted the cultural programme planned for later.That no legislator accompanied Swami to the Legislature Party meeting indicates the kind of ``bonhomie'' between him and his party MLAs. Swami went to the meeting with a small group of youth workers who raised slogans, hailing him as the messiah of Uttaranchal.The mood among party workers was so sombre that there was almost no celebration to mark the birth of the new state. There were also hardly any posters or banners hailing Swami's appointment. The atmosphere improved a little at the meeting when Swami offered unconditional apologies to the local party leaders for having ignored them for so long. He said that after leaving the Jan Sangh, he had contested the Legislative Council polls as an Independent with the support of a cadre he had raised on his own, so he had hardly had any contact with party workers.But all was not well. Despite having reached on time, Union Home Minister L.K. Advani did not attend the meeting, reportedly in view of the surcharged atmosphere. Swami later promised to improve coordination with party leaders. ``We will start celebrations from tomorrow. We will arrange a series of functions and meetings in which Swami would be invited as the chief guest. Afterall, he is our man now,'' said a party MLA from Kumaon.But the goodwill - apparently enforced by the central party leaders - is likely to last only till Swami forms his Cabinet and allocates portfolios. There is bound to be heartburn and bickering later, party leaders feel. On the other hand, the Congress, the main Opposition party, is closely watching the infighting.``People's expectations from the new government are so high that it will be impossible for Swami to fulfill them. People's disillusionment, coupled with infighting within the party, will help us come to power in Uttaranchal after next year's polls,'' says Suryakant Dhasmana, a senior Congress leader.
