BJP's cup of woes in U.P. overflows

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, MAY 15. The BJP in Uttar Pradesh is in turmoil - there is speculation that the central leadership is about to change the Chief Minister, the party's allies in the State Government have threatened to withdraw support, and the party today decided to postpone its State organisational elections scheduled for completion on May 21.

As if all these were not enough, the Akali Dal is vociferously protesting the inclusion of Udhamsingh Nagar in the yet-to-be- born Uttaranchal and has demanded another committee to look into it. It was therefore not surprising that the Chief Minister, Mr. Ram Prakash Gupta, arrived here last night and met the BJP president, Mr. Kushabhau Thakre, this morning, to discuss the problems.

Although Mr. Thakre later indicated that there were no moves to replace Mr. Gupta, who has been recently inducted into the Legislative Council, nobody is convinced, not even the party's MPs from the State.

The party has cited the Supreme Court order on panchayat elections in the State as the excuse for postponement of organisational elections, but insiders suggest that the sorry state of affairs in the State unit would have certainly erupted into a factional war if elections had been held now.

Senior party leaders have hinted that the ad hoc State unit president, Mr. Om Prakash Singh, ought to go. Mr. Singh had been brought in to replace Mr. Rajnath Singh who was accommodated in the Union Cabinet. A former ``right-hand man'' of ousted Chief Minister, Mr. Kalyan Singh, Mr. Rajnath Singh has run into trouble because of cross-voting by party MLAs in the Council elections.

It is learnt that Mr. Gupta discussed this matter with Mr. Thakre as also other issues related to complaints by MLAs on ``postings and transfers of officials''.

Adding to the party's miseries, the Loktantrik Congress Party and the Janata Dal(R) have threatened to withdraw support to the Government as they are against the inclusion of Haridwar in the proposed Uttaranchal. The LCP leader, Mr. Naresh Aggarwal, met the Union Home Minister, Mr. L.K. Advani, today, to press this view. Mr. Gupta met the Defence Minister, Mr. George Fernandes, as well as the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr. Parkash Singh Badal, to discuss the Haridwar problem.

The BJP leadership was asked why Mr. Gupta was campaigning against the inclusion of Haridwar when the Union Cabinet had already cleared the matter. ``The Chief Minister may have expressed his opinion, but it is now for Parliament to take a view when the Bill comes up,'' party spokesperson and general secretary, Mr. M. Venkaiah Naidu, said.

As for change of chief ministership, Mr. Naidu said the issue was not before the central leadership, and ``not a single MLA or MP had demanded a change of Chief Minister''. While this may be true, the fact is that almost every MP from the State believes that the party is sliding down, and unless something drastic is done quickly, in the next Assembly election the party will meet a fate worse in than it did in the 1999 Lok Sabha elections.

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