May 24, 1999
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UTTAR PRADESH Thrust and Parry While dissidents press for Kalyan Singh's removal, the BJP leadership tries to save face till the elections are over. By Farzand Ahmed and Subhash Misra
No sooner had the 36 legislators demanding Kalyan's ouster
returned from Delhi last week after submitting their resignations to BJP President
Kushabhau Thakre than graffiti appeared throughout Lucknow. "Jo Kalyan ko
mitayega, hum use mita denge (He who dares to remove Kalyan will be wiped out by
us)" and "Kalyan nahin to pradesh nahin (no Kalyan, no state)"
were some of the more belligerent slogans. "One man's ego is destroying the party in
the state," said senior party Vice-President Ram Most of the charges against the chief minister are old hat: an unapproachable, autocratic style of functioning, bypassing the party organisation in decision making and promoting a coterie. The most controversial member of the coterie is the attractive 35-year-old Lucknow corporator Kusum Rai, whose proximity to Kalyan has been the talk of the town. The dissidents accuse Kalyan of ignoring the party's interests and blindly doing Rai's bidding. It became clear that the central BJP leadership has finally taken note of the scandal when former Union minister Sushma Swaraj advised Kalyan and Rai to "exercise some restraint in public life". Swaraj made these remarks during a visit to Lucknow last week. State unit President Rajnath Singh, one of Kalyan's rivals, had also spoken about the need for morality in public life during a recent gathering of party workers. "On the personal level leaders must learn to control themselves ... their morality and image must be impeccable," he said. Kalyan's reaction to the charges has been to dig in his heels and launch an offensive against his critics. The chief minister recently thundered at a public meeting that "like a king I would shower gifts on those who please me while those who annoy me would perish". The BJP high command has been caught unawares by the chief minister's belligerence. Following the mass resignations, Kalyan was summoned to Delhi where Thakre gave him a dressing down. The party leadership also came up with a plan to curb the dissidence. This involved Kalyan cancelling many of his controversial appointments, including the elevation of Rai as chairperson of the state welfare board. Journalist and Indian Institute of Mass Communications Chairman Balbir Punj met Kalyan, allegedly at the behest of Home Minister L.K. Advani, to persuade Kalyan to cancel the controversial appointments. The party leadership has also instructed Kalyan to give a patient hearing to the aggrieved MLAs, resolve the infighting in consultation with Kalraj Mishra and Lalji Tandon, the party veterans who are ranged against him, and keep Rajnath Singh informed about all policy decisions. The idea is to clip Kalyan's wings and broker the semblance of a truce till the Lok Sabha elections. Failing which, the BJP high command is even toying with the idea of bringing the state under President's rule. Kalyan has apparently been told to fall in line or be prepared to face Central rule. While the party high command is trying to checkmate him on one hand, the dissidents too are keeping up their pressure. They claim their ranks will swell to 60 MLAs, enough to formally split the 177-member BJP legislative unit. Kalyan, however, appears to be in no mood to relent. He sees the entire episode as a caste war in which the upper castes in the state BJP have ganged up to oust the backward Lodh chief minister. The dissidents are largely from the upper castes while the backwards remain with Kalyan. Within the BJP the most vocal champions of Kalyan's cause are backward leaders like Uma Bharati and Ganga Charan Rajput. The party that claims to be above caste divisions has been vertically divided on forward-backward lines from the state headquarters down to the panchayat level. Kalyan has apparently told the central leaders that the backward castes would turn against the BJP if he were removed. Caste groups have also mounted a campaign in favour of Kalyan. Posters in the form of an open letter to the BJP leadership warn of the backwards deserting the party. Kalyan supporters have also planned a "Swabhiman rally" by the backwards on May 16 when Advani visits the state. Rajesh Pandey, one of the most vocal dissidents, accuses Kalyan of orchestrating the caste campaign. "His indirect involvement in the circulation of pamphlets and posters abusing the upper castes has only worsened the situation," he says. The chief minister's combative mood and the upping of the ante by the dissidents indicates that no easy solutions are in sight. Combined with a poor record in governance it is clear that the BJP in Uttar Pradesh is in a big mess. Party strategists are keeping their fingers crossed and hoping that Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's personal popularity can carry the day in a presidential-style election campaign. There are also lessons to be learnt from the handling of dissidence in other states. The Bihar unit was also plagued by groupism when BJP General Secretary K. Govindacharya was in charge. Govindacharya was gradually disengaged from Bihar affairs and national Vice- President Kailashpati Mishra was put in charge. Kailashpati, who has stature in Bihar politics, has been able to carry the various factions with him. Moreover, when the polls were announced, in order to check infighting the Bihar election committee quickly announced that all the party MPs of the dissolved Lok Sabha would be renominated. The BJP has been less successful in handling factionalism in Madhya Pradesh. The dominant faction here is led by former chief minister Sunderlal Patwa. This group also derives its strength from the patronage extended by Thakre. Besides the dominant Patwa-Thakre group, smaller factions are led by individuals like Bharati and former chief minister Kailash Joshi. Though groupism is believed to have harmed the BJP in the November assembly polls, such undercutting does not really have an impact in a Lok Sabha election. Much of the dissidence within the BJP's state units seems to be caused by personalities. In Maharashtra, for instance, there is growing disenchantment at Pramod Mahajan's style of functioning. Mahajan wants quick results and is often impatient with the old-timers from the Sangh. Such problems are minor compared to the state of affairs in Uttar Pradesh, which sent 57 BJP MPs to the 12th Lok Sabha. Uttar Pradesh has always been the backbone of the BJP. This time round it could become the party's Achilles heel. -with N.K. Singh and Sanjay Kumar Jha |
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The
BJP in Uttar Pradesh is no longer merely providing governance in the state. It's also
providing comic relief as supporters and opponents of Chief Minister Kalyan Singh slug it
out in an unseemly brawl and party heavyweights wash their dirty linen in public. 
Prakash Tripathy. 
