Tripathi points finger within, blames selection

While BJP President Rajnath Singh yesterday stopped short of taking onus for the party8217;s worst performance in a decade in Uttar Pradesh

While BJP President Rajnath Singh yesterday stopped short of taking onus for the party8217;s worst performance in a decade in Uttar Pradesh, state unit chief Kesri Nath Tripathi, who was among the losers, has suggested that the partymen take collective responsibility.

8220;Although we were a part of the exercise, the candidates were selected by the central leadership. Neither can we escape from taking responsibility nor can we hold one person responsible for it,8221; Tripathi, who failed to get re-elected from Allahabad East, told The Sunday Express on Saturday.

The difference of opinion over selection of candidates had come to the fore during the BJP National Executive in Lucknow in December last year when LK Advani had openly regretted that leaders like Markandeya Chand, who was an accused in the murder case of former BJP MP Laxmi Narayan Mishra and who had been active against the BJP in eastern Uttar Pradesh, had been shortlisted as party candidates. Chand lost to Rajendra Singh of the Samajwadi Party this time.

Over two dozen relatives or close friends of senior party leaders were given tickets despite having little presence in the constituencies. A case in point was Khadag Bahadur Singh, the private secretary of Rajnath. After objections were raised to his candidature, he was outsourced to alliance partner the JD U. Eventually Khadag Bahadur lost to the SP8217;s Sarvesh Kumar Singh.

While the party struggled to cope with these problems, the projected chief ministerial candidate of the BJP, Kalyan Singh, chose to spend maximum time in his son Rajvir Singh8217;s constituency, Debai. Still, Rajvir lost, to the BSP8217;s Sribhagwan Sharma.

Kalraj Mishra8217;s nephew Brahmdeo Mishra lost to the BSP8217;s Ravindranath Tripathi from Barsathi, while former BJP MP Ram Nagina Mishra8217;s son Parshuram Mishra was defeated from Fazilnagar.

M Venkaiah Naidu8217;s poll management technique banking on outsiders 8212;- Gopinath Munde in Gorakhpur, Thawan Chand Gahlot in Kanpur, Ananth Kumar in Varanasi, Saudan Singh in Lucknow, O P Mathur in Agra and Ravi Shankar Prasad in Meerut 8212; failed to bear any results.

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8220;In fact, what was expected from the BJP was actually done by the BSP. While we were busy planning and campaigning, Mayawati was seeking votes in the name of destroying the SP,8221; the BJP8217;s UP unit chief noted.

RSS praises BSP, calls BJP Hindutva half-hearted

NEW DELHI: The RSS, which unsuccessfully used its full strength to mobilise voters towards the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, has blamed the saffron party8217;s debacle in the state on its 8220;half-hearted8221; Hindutva campaign. A page-one article in its mouthpiece Organiser compared BSP chief Mayawati8217;s strategy with the one adopted by late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and said both used 8220;soft Hindutva line8221; to woo voters. 8220;The BJP lost steam midway. Its campaign got stuck between half-hearted Hindutva and development governance,8221; it said. PTI