DECEMBER 12: BJP general secretary, Narendra Modi, is something of a wit. He has just assured the nation his party is now Y2K(alyan) compliant; that now that the thorn in its side, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh, has been removed, it is going to be smooth sailing for the party in UP. Modi is, of course, entitled to his fantasies, but to argue that Singh's departure has not damaged the party considerably is to invite disbelief.Indeed, the party's best chance of emerging relatively unscathed from the Kalyan Singh imbroglio would be to recognise this fact of life and set about honestly assessing its likely impact on the state. Such an exercise may even call for the party reinventing itself in order to be politically competitive.Kalyan Singh, who successfully combined both Mandal and Kamandal politics for a decade, had one of two options before him. Either turn further to the right, adopt a more hardline stance on issues like the Ram temple and Hindutva, and try and expose the BJP for itssupposed hypocrisy, or jettison that divisive legacy and try and emerge as the new champion of the backward castes in the state.That he chose the latter course testifies to his political savvy he realises that the only way to attract larger numbers, without the backing of a cadre-based organisation like the RSS to support him, would be to practise a more inclusive brand of politics than the Hindutva variant presages. Going by his revelations to the media on Friday, Kalyan Singh, while aiming to consolidate the non-Yadav backward castes, wants to keep the economically weaker sections among the upper castes within his fold.And he hopes to yoke these disparate groups together through some skillful social engineering. Of course, whether or not he succeeds in this project must await the verdict of the future. But it is one that is fraught with danger. There is, after all, room for only one OBC leader in the state. Kalyan Singh, although he now spends time vending his spleen against Vajpayee's BJP, may soonfind himself having to wage a battle of supremacy with Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.So where does all this leave the BJP? Clearly, with one more entrant throwing his hat in the ring, the political scene in UP will be even more riven with varying caste loyalties and attempts at community-based political mobilisation. Kalyan Singh has already announced that he plans to contest every single one of the 425 assembly seats in the state elections which he claims is around the corner. This move has implications for every single political party in the state, including the BSP, which had in the last general election attempted to emerge from its bahujan samaj shell.For the BJP, the biggest challenge will be to keep its traditional vote bank intact, even as it takes care to ensure that the intensified attempts to paint it as an anti-Dalit, anti-backward caste party do not carry conviction with voters. It is in this context that Prime Minister Vajpayee's recent hint about a closer relationship with theBSP assumes significance.Of course, managing the BSP even if it does agree to a political partnership - is not going to be easy, given that party's own political ambitions. In sum, Kalyan Singh by his announcement to field his own party has brought more uncertainty into the already chaotic politics of a state that is fast living up to its reputation for being an ulta pradesh.
