Rumble over Kalyan as BJP146;s UP pointman

The final decision on who should be made the BJP central leadership8217;s pointman or 8216;8216;prabhari8217;8217; in Uttar Pradesh has...

The final decision on who should be made the BJP central leadership8217;s pointman or 8216;8216;prabhari8217;8217; in Uttar Pradesh has apparently been left to Atal Behari Vajpayee following some resistance to the name of Kalyan Singh.

According to sources, Kalyan Singh continues to be the 8216;8216;front-runner8217;8217; for the post. He has the backing of key state leaders such as Rajnath Singh and Kalraj Mishra. Besides, with Kesri Nath Tripathi, a Brahmin, being made the party8217;s state president in place of Vinay Katiyar, an OBC as 8216;8216;prabhari8217;8217; is necessary to keep the non-upper castes happy.

But there has been last-minute resistance to Kalyan Singh8217;s name for two reasons, sources say. First, his past 8216;8216;disloyalty8217;8217; is still being held against him by some sections who are unhappy that his controversial friend, Kusum Rai, has been awarded a high-profile position as vice-president of the BJP Mahila Morcha.

The second reason is that given the 8216;8216;groupism8217;8217; rampant in the UP unit, the 8216;8216;prabhari8217;8217; should be someone from outside the state. Those who favour an 8216;8216;outsider8217;8217; are backing the candidature of Bal Apte. Apte has slowly emerged as a key organisation man in the BJP who 8212; along with Sanjay Joshi 8212; has been entrusted the task of overseeing the ideological and organisational restructuring of the post-defeat BJP. Both Joshi and Apte are RSS pracharaks who keep a low profile but carry a lot of clout, say sources.

Those backing Kalyan Singh are, however, convinced that when it comes to the crunch, the UP strongman will get the post because it will send the right signal to the party cadres, who are still in a state of shock over the BJP8217;s dismal performance in the elections.

Apparently, Kalyan Singh8217;s return did not lead to a revival of the party8217;s fortunes, but a 8216;8216;detailed analysis8217;8217; of the results showed he did manage to bring back the votes of his kinsmen 8212; the Lodhs 8212; as well as other non-Yadav OBCs.

These votes could not offset the alienation of the BJP8217;s upper caste constituency but will be crucial for any future revival of the party, it is felt.

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At the BJP8217;s 8216;8216;Chintan Baithak8217;8217; in Goa, a great deal of emphasis was laid on rebuilding the party in UP. Although polls in UP are scheduled for 2007, it has been clubbed with other election-going states because party leaders feel that Mulayam could well go in for early elections in view of the 8216;8216;volatile8217;8217; situation in the state.

Leaders from UP who attended the Goa meet were unanimous in their assertion that the BJP must consolidate its support base among the upper castes. Any expansion of this base must be carried out by established BJP leaders from the non-upper castes such as Kalyan Singh. The party8217;s attempts at 8216;8216;social engineering8217;8217; through alliances with the BSP proved 8216;8216;disastrous8217;8217;, and the only way to grow was to go it alone, a senior UP leader said.