BJP to appoint new UP chief

NEW DELHI, DEC 21: The BJP is planning to appoint UP minister Om Prakash Singh as the state BJP president to counter the backward-caste po...

NEW DELHI, DEC 21: The BJP is planning to appoint UP minister Om Prakash Singh as the state BJP president to counter the backward-caste politics of former chief minister Kalyan Singh who has been expelled from the party.Singh, now Irrigation Minister in the Ram Prakash Gupta cabinet, is a Kurmi and was once a confidant of Kalyan Singh. He, however, distanced himself from Kalyan by criticising him the day after his expulsion.

Om Prakash Singh has, it is learnt, during separate meetings with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, party president Kushabhau Thakre and general secretary K N Govindacharya last week, reluctantly agreed to take up the assignment. He wanted to hold the post of state party chief along with his ministerial portfolio but was persuaded by the BJP brass to resign from the cabinet before taking up his new job, a senior BJP leader said. The party is likely to announce Singh’s appointment to coincide with the BJP national executive being held in Chennai from December 27 to familiarise himwith other senior leaders. Singh, at present, is not a member of the national executive.

The BJP wanted a backward leader to be posted as the state party chief to counter Kalyan Singh’s attempt to effect a backwards polarisation in UP. It had Ayodhya MP Vinay Katiyar, Union Minister of State for Petroleum Santosh Gangwar, UP Cooperatives Minister Ram Kumar Varma besides Singh to choose from.

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Katiyar failed to get the party bosses’ nod because of his past. He is the founder-president of the Bajrang Dal and had a significant role in the Ram Temple movement. Gangwar excused himself, citing his poor experience in the party organisation.

The party is hurrying in appointing a new state BJP president since the incumbent, Rajnath Singh, wants to relinquish his post at the earliest, having been inducted into the Union Cabinet. He, however, was backing another Kurmi, Ram Kumar Varma, as his successor but the party favoured Singh because of his greater experience in the party organisation.

Besides, Singh’s namewas being proposed by almost all influential state BJP leaders like Kalraj Mishra, Lalji Tandon and Satyadeo Singh, who wanted someone who could check the Centre’s interference in state politics. Singh being an assertive person is unlikely to let the party high command’s writ run in the state, they hope.

The BJP leaders refute Kalyan’s claim of luring away the OBC vote-bank from the BJP. “He can’t hold on to his own caste men, Lodhs, because another influential backward Lodh leader, Sakshi Maharaj, who too was close to Kalyan till some time ago, has refused to join Kalyan’s party and continues with Mulayam Singh Yadav. Only elections will reveal how many Lodhs voted for Kalyan,” said a senior BJP leader on Monday.

Police personnel seen to control the situation during a massive protest over the statehood demand and the inclusion of Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule, in Leh on Wednesday. (ANI Video Grab)

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