New Delhi, Feb 15: The Uttar Pradesh BJP leaders, particularly state unit president Vinay Katiyar and national general secretary Rajnath Singh, came down heavily on the Mayawati government on Friday.
They attacked her for "humiliating" the state leaders and "trying to erode the saffron upper caste votebank."
The BJP brass, including deputy chief minister L.K. Advani and human resources development minister Murli Manohar Joshi, met at the residence of party president M. Venkaiah Naidu on Friday to discuss the situation. UP chief minister Mayawati will be arriving here on Saturday to hold talks with Mr Advani and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in this regard.
The BJP leaders were considering a three-point formula to smoothen relations, besides setting up of a coordination committee, to be headed by senior leader Kalraj Mishra, to resolve coalition differences. It was agreed that the government should be allowed to function smoothly and that chief minister Mayawati should not have to rush to Delhi to sort out problems. It has also been suggested that the BJP must take a "tough line" during its meeting with the UP chief minister and make it clear that the BJP was ready to face any eventuality in the state.
The Katiyar and Singh camp has also asked the BJP brass to persuade Ms Mayawati to release jailed legislator Raja Bhaiyya’s father, Raja Udai Pratap Singh, who has been booked under Pota along with his son. It was argued that since the BJP in UP has the maximum number of Thakur MLAs, their arrest would hit its upper caste votebank. Though Ms Mayawati has already rejected their demand, the BJP state unit leaders insist that she should release Udai Pratap Singh. Raja Bhaiyya’s father is reportedly close to both the RSS and the VHP.
In a significant move, the RSS also swung into action by persuading the BJP brass to induct an organisation man, Narendra, as an organisation secretary of the UP state unit.
Sensing ongoing trouble between the BJP and the BSP in the state, the RSS wants the saffron camp to be ready for any eventuality, including a mid-term poll. Incidentally, the RSS has also inducted pracharak Sanjay Joshi as the national organisation secretary of the BJP.
Mr Joshi attended Friday’s meeting, following instructions from the Prime Minster. Since he was one of the "architects" of the BJP-BSP coalition, the UP chief minister also sought his intervention. So far, Mr Advani has been holding parleys on the UP issue.
Bureau Report
