Lok Sabha results strengthen Kalyan Singh against Agarwal's machinations
Sharat Pradhan in Lucknow
While the virtual sweep in Uttar Pradesh
has enabled the Bharatiya Janata Party reach closer to the magic figure that
could propel the party ahead in the ongoing race for power at the Centre, the poll results have reinforced Chief Minister Kalyan Singh's position in more
ways than one.
The results can relieve him of his biggest worry -- the unpredictable
lot of 13 Loktantrik Congress Party members led by Naresh Agarwal,
who upstaged him in a dramatic political coup only to return to
his fold within the next 48 hours. Besides, the BJP's record tally
of 60 (including three allies) out of UP's 85 seats, has come
as a feather in Kalyan's cap, particularly since he had played
a dominant role in distribution of tickets, much to the chagrin
of some of his detractors within the party.
With six vacancies now going to arise in the state assembly following the election of six
sitting MLAs to
Parliament, Kalyan Singh could well do without the support of
Naresh Agarwal's band of 13. After all, the reduction in the overall
strength of the Vidhan Sabha from 425 (one having resigned even
before the Lok Sabha elections) to 419, would not require Kalyan
Singh to have a support of more than 210 members for a simple
majority. And considering that he had polled 225 votes in his
favour at the recent 'composite floor test' in the
state assembly, as prescribed by the Supreme Court, a loss of
13 members would not matter to him at least for the time being.
Said a senior BJP leader: "That is the biggest relief to the chief
minister, who could not afford to rely on Agarwal and his bandwagon
after the kind of political somersaults he had taken over a short
span of time." According to him, "At least until the by-election to
these assembly seats are held, Kalyan Singh would not have to
worry about what Naresh is up to."
And Kalyan Singh surely had sufficient cause to worry. Even after his
success in the composite floor test with a comfortable margin,
the chief minister knew that Agarwal was still up to some mischief. His hobnobbing
with the disgruntled anti-Kalyan upper caste Brahmin lobby within
the BJP over the past week made the CM realise that the
political storm over his government had still not passed. It was this lobby
that had become hyperactive against the chief minister.
It is learnt that confabulations were held between Agarwal and the anti-Kalyan BJP
coterie. One of the participants, who was known to have been close to
BSP leader Mayawati even as relations between Kalyan Singh and the BSP's
stormy petrel had soured, is understood to have flown along with
Agarwal to Delhi, where they held secret parleys with certain
BJP bigwigs.
The whole idea was to convey to the party bosses that
Kalyan Singh was "the main stumbling block in ensuring a smooth
alliance with the LCP". The BJP top brass was told in explicit terms,
"to replace Kalyan Singh with a more widely acceptable BJP man" as they
branded him "too arrogant, inaccessible and bureaucratic".
According to a member of this lobby, "it was Kalyan Singh's
habit of confining himself within his ivory tower that alienated everyone",
with the result that he was caught unawares when the LCP
pulled the rug from under his feet on February 21.
However, the fact remains that the 'no-nonsense' man in Kalyan Singh has
not allowed some of his own colleagues to have a field day as
they had in Mayawati's regime. And that's what irks them most,
because the channels of any large inflow of funds remain plugged,
since no major deal is possible without the express approval of
the chief minister. Therefore, for the anti-Kalyan lobby within,
Naresh Agarwal came in handy.
Notably, while distributing portfolios among his 93-member jumbo
cabinet, Kalyan was shrewd enough to fragment major ministries and carve
out innocuous departments. Initially, it did
not make much of a difference for some as long as they were entitled
to the perquisites of a minister, but soon they realised that
what they received in their kitty was barely nothing beyond the
facade of certain VIP privileges. "No sooner than realisation
dawned that ministership was not a necessary passport to fill
their coffers, they started ganging up against Kalyan Singh," remarked
his confidant.
Meanwhile, an atmosphere of total mistrust prevails not only within
the ruling and opposition groups, but also where the constitutional
offices of governor and speaker are concerned. The BJP may appear
to be firmly in the saddle, but is not in a position to trust
its allies, on whose support its government rests; an otherwise
fragmented opposition stays together in a loose bondage not having
an iota of faith in one another; a speaker whom the entire Opposition
accuses of bias; and to top it all, a governor, who is only a bundle
of controversies largely owing to his blatantly prejudicial actions,
and yet who manages to survive even the wrath of the President.
Elections '98
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