The Hindu : BJP rebels step up activity in U.P.

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Oct 22, 2002

National

National

BJP rebels step up activity in U.P.

By J.P. Shukla

LUCKNOW OCT. 21. Stepping up their tirade, the dissident Uttar Pradesh BJP legislators have accused the party legislature group leader and Minister for Urban Development, Lalji Tandon, of frustrating their attempts to meet the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, during his visit to Lucknow over the weekend.

They said they had made a formal request to see Mr. Vajpayee but did not get any response.

In a fax message to Mr. Vajpayee, the dissident leader, Ganga Bhakt Singh, who is the convener of the `save BJP committee', sent a copy of the memorandum they had proposed to hand over to the Prime Minister.

It reiterated the demand that all BJP Ministers be withdrawn from the Mayawati-led Government and that the party support the Ministry from outside, just as the BSP was doing at the Centre. This was the only way to restore the cadres' confidence which has been badly shattered by the `erratic manner' in which the BJP Ministers had been selected.

Mr. Singh told presspersons at his residence here that 17 of the 30 BJP Ministers were those who had come to the BJP from other organisations. The BJP list was `imbalanced'.

The claims of most Dalit castes had been ignored, little representation had been given to eastern U.P. and the Bundelkhand region as also the districts of the central region, considered the political base of the Samajwadi Party leader, Mulayam Singh Yadav.

No Minister had been appointed from the Legislative Council while MLAs who had cross-voted during the Rajya Sabha and Council elections were `rewarded'.

Mr. Singh claimed that the dissidents had 25 MLAs and seven MLCs but insisted that their efforts were directed at strengthening the organisation.

He denied that the dissidence was the result of internal rivalry among top State party leaders.

Mr. Tandon, when asked about the dissidents' allegations against him, said it was wrong to insinuate that the Prime Minister had cut short his visit to avoid meeting the rebels. ``He was sick and had been advised not to speak.''

Mr. Tandon said that he alone was not responsible for finalising the Minister's list. All top State party leaders, including Rajnath Singh, Kalraj Mishra and Vinay Katiyar, had been associated with the exercise at every level.

Mr. Tandon said he was ready to discuss all issues with Mr. Singh whom he considered a respectable party leader.

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