Keshubhai to be replaced?

By Neena Vyas

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 30. A question mark continued to hang over the fate of the Gujarat Chief Minister, Mr. Keshubhai Patel, as the Central party leadership began a thorough inquiry into the reasons for the Bharatiya Janata Party's electoral debacle in the recent bye- elections and the zila panchayat and municipal polls earlier. The matter has become urgent as the BJP lost an Assembly segment in the Union Home Minister, Mr. L. K. Advani's constituency, Gandhinagar.

At the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee's residence, the issue was discussed for about an hour this morning. Others present included Mr. Advani, the BJP president, Mr. Jana Krishnamurthi, Mr. Keshubhai Patel and Mr. Narendra Modi, BJP general secretary for organisation.

Another meeting is expected to take place tomorrow to continue the discussion, the Prime Minister's Office indicated. It could be a wider meeting, which could include some senior BJP leaders from Gujarat like Mr. Suresh Mehta, former Chief Minister, and Mr. Kanshiram Rana, Union Textile Minister.

The party does not seem to have made up its mind on whether to replace Mr. Patel or make some other drastic changes like installing a Deputy Chief Minister (who would then be virtually in charge). The latter was probably being thought of to avoid the adverse fall-out of removing a `Patel' from the top job. Mr. Modi's name is being mentioned by some party leaders in this context.

Mr. Krishnamurthi later said he would be meeting a cross-section of the State leadership over the next few days to discuss the reasons for the electoral setback. The formal report from the Gujarat unit was still awaited. The meeting at the Prime Minister's residence discussed the problems in detail - when Mr. Patel was here a few days ago, he could not meet Mr. Vajpayee and hence this meeting, Mr. Krishnamurthi said.

When asked if all these discussions could lead to a change in the State leadership, Mr. Krishnamurthi said for the time being, the party was focussing on identifying the weaknesses. The indication was that a change could not be ruled out and a similar signal is also being received from other senior party leaders. The whole exercise now seems to be two-pronged - identify the problem and then zero in on a replacement for Mr. Patel or restructure the State Cabinet drastically.

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