Steps to boost BJP's prospects

By J. P. Shukla

LUCKNOW, JULY. 8. Amid reports that the BJP-led Government in Uttar Pradesh has been toying with the idea to dissolve the State Assembly by October next, the Sangh Pariwar has initiated an intensive exercise to boost the sagging morale of its cadres to improve the BJP prospects in the elections.

The BJP has already entered the election mode as evidenced by various populist measures taken to influence the voters both at the level of the organisation and the State Government. The leadership has asked rivals in the State party unit to sink their differences and call an end to infighting as continuance of disunity any more would be fatal.

The U.P. BJP Committee President, Mr. Kalraj Mishra, today said the election issue had been debated at length at a two-day meeting among the leaders of the RSS and the BJP concluding here yesterday. A major decision taken at the meeting was that a galaxy of national leaders of the BJP would come to camp in the State to make available their services for party work. The RSS leadership discussed how resources of all Sangh outfits could be pooled to derive maximum benefits for the BJP during the elections.

While details of discussions at the conclave were not made public, reports said the occasion was used by some leaders to express their grievances against rivals. A senior Minister was reported to have expressed his resentment that he had not been associated with important decision-making process both at the party and the Government level. The credibility of organising secretaries of the BJP came to be questioned. Some of the participants said that the functioning of these persons who were basically RSS `pracharaks' was not fair and above board.

Mr. Kalraj Mishra, however, today emphatically denied that any such allegations were made against organising secretaries. He insisted that no discussion had taken place on functioning of the organising secretaries and expressed his anguish at reports published in newspapers to this effect.

The BJP does not want to be taken by surprise by the opposition which has been demanding holding of elections in October this year itself. The BJP has been pleading that the elections would be due only in March, 2002. The Samajwadi Party and the Congress (I) have hinted that their MLAs may resign from the Assembly to force early elections. Opinion in the BJP was gaining ground that in such an eventuality the Government should recommend dissolution of the Assembly and leave it to the Election Commission to decide the dates for the elections.

What has been cause for serious concern for the BJP was that it had failed to improve the general image of the State Government. While indiscipline of Ministers belonging to alliance partners remained the cause of serious headache for the Chief Minister, charges of corruption against many of them have continued to persist. One thinking in the party was that the Chief Minister should take exemplary action against at least some of the Ministers to send right kind of messages to the electorate on the election eve.

It is almost certain that Mr. Rajnath Singh would announce 15 per cent reservation for the Most Backward among Dalits and Backward Classes by the next month. The move is expected to create problems in the camps of both the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party and BJP feels at least some of the Most Backward castes might turn to the saffron forces as a mark of gratitude to the Government gesture.

Mr. Mishra said the provision of reservation has not benefited all sections of Dalits and Backward Classes. The BJP wanted that the deprived sections derived benefits from the Government's reservations policy. ``Casteist parties, which have opposed the proposition of quota within quota have now been thoroughly exposed while the BJP has stood firm on its principles,'' he added.

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