BJP’s problem of plenty in UP

Senior Uttar Pradesh BJP leaders, including state chief Kalraj Mishra, former chief ministers Rajnath Singh and Lalji Tandon, are finding it...

Senior Uttar Pradesh BJP leaders, including state chief Kalraj Mishra, former chief ministers Rajnath Singh and Lalji Tandon, are finding it difficult to pick 25 legislators among more than 50 aspirants for the ministerial berths in the coalition government.

Immediately after their return from Delhi today, they met at Rajnath Singh’s residence to finalise the list. The group opposed to the formation of a coalition government with the Bahujan Samaj Party, if it is not accommodated in the ministry, is bound to create a problem for the leadership.

The dissident group includes MLAs who were ministers in the Kalyan Singh and Rajnath Singh cabinets and those elected for the third consecutive term. ‘‘I will certainly feel hurt if I am not accommodated in the ministry,’’ said an MLA elected for the third time from a constituency of eastern UP. ‘‘Like me, many others have emerged victorious in the anti-BJP wave,’’ he said.

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The group, including Fateh Bahadur Singh and Bharat Singh, had openly opposed the formation of a government with BSP. They wanted the party MLAs to sit in the Opposition.

A leader close to Rajnath Singh said the leadership was aware of the resentment brewing among the party MLAs. They were considering to hand out corporation chairmanships to those who could not be accomodated in the ministry, he said. It may be mentioned here that there are more than 40 corporations in the state.

On the contrary, there will be no such problem in the BSP as no MLA appears to have any resentment and all are likely to abide by Mayawati’s fiat. Reliable sources say that Mayawati has already finalised the list and most of the MLAs, including Swami Prasad Maurya, who were ministers in her previous government have found a place in it.

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