War over tickets boils over in UP BJP

NEW DELHI/LUCKNOW, AUG 16: The war between backers and detractors of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh over the distribution of t...

NEW DELHI/LUCKNOW, AUG 16: The war between backers and detractors of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh over the distribution of tickets has boiled over. A former MP has resigned from the party and another is threatening to contest as a rebel.

In fact, for once Kalyan and his alliance partners are on the same side. The BJP list has angered them too by allotting just seven seats instead of the nearly 25 they had been demanding.

The three-time BJP member of Parliament, Sachhidanand Sakshi — a Kalyan-loyalist — who was denied a ticket on Monday resigned from primary membership of the party and vowed to inflict damage to the party in the coming elections.

Another two-time BJP MP from Sultanpur, Devendra Bahadur Rai — a Kalyan detractor — is considering contesting as an independent from Faizabad. Rai was the Senior Superintendent of Police, Faizabad when the Babri Mosque was razed and subsequently lost his job. Sakshi is Kalyan’s fellow casteman – a backward Lodh – and was an accused in themurder of a senior UP minister Brahma Dutt Dwivedi three years ago. “I was framed by the three senior BJP leaders from UP who along with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee tried to defeat me in last elections,” he alleged.

Interestingly, Sakshi entered into the BJP through Vishwa Hindu Parishad but became close to Kalyan and was given a ticket from Farrukhabad in 1998 despite the VHP’s opposition. VHP has since disowned him. “He did not attend our conventions and was even absent from Ayodhya on December 6, 1992,” said VHP spokesman Lokesh Bahadur Singh.

Rai too wrote a letter to Thakre on May 4 this year complaining against Kalyan. “I lost my job because of Babri demolition but Kalyan has become a hero at the cost of my sacrifice. He feels his Government fell because of me and thus harbours ill-feelings towards me,” Rai told Thakre.

He also told Thakre that if denied justice from the party, he would seek it in the Court of Ram Lalla. Rai was unavailable for comments on Monday.

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Kalyan’s plea fora ticket for his son Rajveer Singh from Bulandshahar was ignored by the BJP leadership, party sources said. Rajveer even started work in the constituency but the party’s parliamentary board was reportedly not convinced about Kalyan’s son’s chances, they claimed.

Perhaps the one solace for Kalyan now is that another one of his loyalists, Ganga Charan Rajput, managed to get a ticket from Hamirpur.

The BJP leadership has acted with the utmost caution this time in announcing candidates as it does not want to mess up in the crucial state. Fourteen new faces have been fielded in the list of 75 names announced so far, while five sitting MPs have been denied tickets.