The Hindu : NDA rebels may upset BJP

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 20, 2002

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National

NDA rebels may upset BJP

By K.V. Prasad

GORAKHPUR (U.P.) FEB. 19. Strange it may appear that allies at one end of the State are bitter rivals at the other. Yet that is a reality in several parts of Eastern Uttar Pradesh, which goes to the polls in the last phase of the Assembly elections on Thursday. The contradiction of being with the BJP and yet contesting against the party is prominent in several constituencies spread across Maharajganj, Gorakhpur, Bansgoan and Khalilabad districts.

Apart from a sitting BJP MP, two Union Ministers have fielded candidates of their parties, for which the BJP has put up its own nominees. This feature becomes pronounced in Gorakhpur where the BJP MP, Yogi Adityanath, of the Gorakhnath Temple Trust, extended support to the Hindu Mahasabha candidates in three Assembly constituencies — Gorakhpur Sadar, Pipraich (under Gorakhpur Parliamentary constituency) and Mundera Bazar (under the Bansgoan constituency).

Upset at being ignored by the BJP in the selection of nominees, Mr. Adityanath's move is

being seen as his disenchantment with the party he represents and the MP is challenging the BJP on

contentious issues like the Ram temple, a common civil code or the closure of `madrasas'(Muslim religious seminaries).

The influence of Gorakhnath Temple Trust cannot be swept aside for the `blessing' of the temporal seat is considered crucial here. It becomes apparent as in the neighbouring Maniram constituency, the BJP candidate, Shambu Sharan Singh's election posters and banners emphasise that he has the blessings of the `yogi'. After all, the BJP had reaped electoral benefits siding with the majority community during the past decade. In the neighbouring Khalilabad constituency, the Union Coal Minister and president of the Lok Jan Shakti Party (LJS), Ram Vilas Paswan, campaigned for his State unit chief and former Uttar Pradesh Minister, Ram Asrey Paswan. The BJP refused to allot the seat to Asrey Paswan, who won in 1996 on the Janata Dal ticket. Now he dares the BJP candidate, Dwarika Prasad. Incidentally, the area MP, Bhalchandra Yadav, who rebelled from the Samajwadi Party has thrown his weight behind the BJP and his protégé, Shanklak Majhi, is a contestant from Hainsar Bazar under the banner of another BJP ally, Janata Dal (United). The LJS has also put up Markandey Chand. The BJP did not accommodate Mr. Chand who had moved away from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) to join the BJP Government. In Pharenda constituency, under the Maharajganj district, another Union Minister, Maneka Gandhi, has fielded a Shakti Dal candidate, where the BJP has its own nominee. Ms. Gandhi who campaigned here did not see any contradiction while being part of the BJP alliance in Pilibhit yet opposing its candidates down here.

She said her party had fielded candidates in constituencies outside the pact where the BJP candidates had no real chances of emerging as number one.

A senior leader of the allies, who preferred anonymity charged the BJP with indulging in cross nomination by propping up Independents after having allotted seats to the NDA constituents, while the local BJP leaders denied the charge and said the allies demanded seats far in excess of the actual ground strength. The blame game goes on.

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