Kalyan8217;s crisis

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh is virtually burning the midnight oil to get out of the Saraswati Vandana-Vande Mataram controv...

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh is virtually burning the midnight oil to get out of the Saraswati Vandana-Vande Mataram controversy. Three major decisions on the issue came at midnight. One, the decision to withdraw the Government Order GO which made the recitation of the Vandana and Vande Mataram compulsory in government-aided schools of the state. Two, to sack the Basic Education Minister Ravindra Shukla and three, to issue a rejoinder to the charges flung by the sacked minister on Sunday night.

But the massive damage-control exercise launched by the Chief Minister has put him in the dock instead of clearing the clouds hovering over him. Though the controversy over the recitation of Vandana and Vande Mataram has died down 8212; with even the All India Personal Law Board withdrawing the fatwa8217; 8212; Kalyan Singh finds himself again in a crisis. The people within his own party who have been baying for his blood are raising their voices as the chief minister isclearly on the defensive after a series of bunglings.

To begin with, RSS chief Rajendra Singh Rajju Bhaiyya had taken strong objection to the sacking of the minister, a hard-core Sangh activist, as also the withdrawal of the GO in connection with the controversy. The RSS has even decided to observe the next year as the Vande Mataram year.

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee is also upset with the Chief Minister over what his supporters claimed 8220;wrong briefing8221; on the issue during former8217;s tour to the state capital. 8220;To my knowledge, the Uttar Pradesh Government has not issued any GO for making recitation of Vandana and Vande Mataram in schools,8221; the Prime Minister said while the fact was just the opposite.

In fact, the Government issued the GO on July 25, 1998 and the former minister for Basic Education Ravindra Shukla claimed that the GO was issued even during the chief ministership of Mayawati but this was not being followed forcing him to issue the same in the form ofKalp Yojana in July, whose highlights were Vandana and Vande Mataram.

The minister8217;s admission that the GO was issued and the Chief Minister was in the know of things opened a Pandora8217;s box.

8220;It might be because of the lack of communication which forced the PM to make a false statement,8221; said the basic education minister while alleging that the coterie of bureaucrats close to the CM was responsible for the folly.

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The next day, the Chief Minister flew to New Delhi and tried to make his position on the issue clear before senior leaders of the party. The CM did not want to earn the fury of the Prime Minister and explained to the party leadership that the decision was taken by the minister on 8220;his own8221;. Kalyan claimed that he was not aware of the developments and that was why he told the the PM that his government had not issued any GO.

In his rejoinder released late on Sunday night to counter the charges of Ravindra Shukla, Kalyan claimed in a nine-page press statement thatthough the GO was issued in July he was not aware of its contents till December. 8220;The claim that the CM himself had signed on the Kalp Yojana scheme on June 8, 1998 was mischievous because the CM8217;s approval that day was obtained merely to include the scheme in the budget while its details were neither provided nor discussed,8221; the rejoinder said.

But his own partymen refuse to believe him.8220;This logic is hard to digest. Kalyan Singh is the type of chief minister who never signs on anything without knowing its full details. To top it all, the Chief Minister himself has praised Ravindra Shukla for inculcating saner values among growing kids. The reference obviously was to the Kalp Yojana scheme,8221; said a BJP leader who is close to Kalyan Singh.

The critics of Kalyan Singh blamed the coterie of bureaucrats which has made him inaccessible to his own partymen and allies. 8220;They a select group of bureaucrats in the CM8217;s secretariat are his ears and he does not want to listen us. This is why the CM is gettingestranged with his own partymen,8221; said another senior BJP leader.

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With the present controversy, Kalyan gave his rivals a stick to beat him with and created more rivals than he can afford.

The Chief Minister has already been facing protest from all quarters in his second stint. His allies have openly accused him of being autocratic while his colleagues and one-time friends in the party have become his enemies owing to 8220;dictatorial functioning8221;. The party8217;s central leadership, already overburdened with problems at the Centre, has intervened to end intra-party squabbles but they have worsened.

Home Minister L.K. Advani, during a recent tour to the state, exhorted the partymen to work for improvement in their eroding image and reminded them how the party rose from being representative of a few MPs to the present status.

8220;This is high time that we went for introspection or else the party8217;s credibility will erode,8221; he said.

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But no one seems to be listening: the factions within the BJP pick up thegovernment8217;s mistakes faster than the opposition.