Jaswant to be emissary to UNPA, but regional chieftains not keen

BJP leader Jaswant Singh will meet AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa and seek her good offices to win over the support of United National Progressive Alliance partners for presidential candidate Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.

BJP leader Jaswant Singh will meet AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa and seek her good offices to win over the support of United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) partners for presidential candidate Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.

BJP sources said Singh would go to Chennai soon. The UNPA internal consultations will gain momentum when Chandrababu Naidu returns from the United States on July 9. Jayalalithaa is already in touch with Naidu on behalf of the BJP according to a Telugu Desam leader.

BJP is trying to reach out to regional parties, which have come under the UNPA umbrella and command nearly 1.25 lakh votes in the presidential electoral college. In the eight-party UNPA, Jayalalithaa is keen to go along with the NDA candidate but other parties are opposed to the idea of allying with the BJP. Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh has already ruled out any possibility of supporting Shekhawat, but the BJP is hopeful that it could at least break off a section of the UNPA to its side.

However, BJP’s appeal to the “anti-Congress common interest” of all regional parties has not found many takers. Regional parties are wary of clubbing their fate with the BJP, which they perceive is on a downslide. Even Mamata Banerjee—who was a BJP ally for the West Bengal Assembly elections—is disinclined to vote for Shekhawat. Despite BJP’s repeated assurance to the contrary, Trinamool Congress is moving towards abstaining from voting. Regional parties feel by maintaining equidistance from Congress and BJP, they will gain in the next Lok Sabha elections.

Meanwhile, BJP is trying to build up its presidential election campaign on the danger of a “tainted occupant” in Rashtrapati Bhawan plank—a reference to the allegations that have surfaced against UPA presidential candidate Pratibha Patil. In a handwritten letter to all members of the electoral college, leader of the Opposition L K Advani said, “The Congress President has devalued the high office of the Prime Minister of India by handpicking a person who exercises no authority of his own. And now, the plan seems to be to have a Rashtrapati who cannot act independently.” Advani said it was a “personal appeal to cast a conscience vote”.

The party also refuted Patil’s denial of allegations against her. BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “The bald and mechanical denial by the UPA candidate that all allegations against her are motivated conceals more than it reveals. There is not even the remotest denial of any allegation all of which are based upon documentary evidence.”