Kalraj's resignation aimed at refurbishing his image?

By Our Special Correspondent

LUCKNOW, MAY 1. Much to the chagrin of the supporters of Mr.Kalraj Misra, who has resigned from the Ministry, following charges of corruption, senior BJP leaders have not come out in his defence to pave the way for withdrawal of his resignation.

Mr. Misra is anguished that when he was targeted in the Assembly by the Opposition, none of his senior colleagues came to his rescue. Even the Chief Minister, Mr. Ram Prakash Gupta, did not issue a statement, giving him a clean chit.

Mr. Mishra decided to resign only after a considerable thought to dispel the impression that he was neck deep in corruption. He was convinced that a concerted attempt had been made in the past to sully his image and there were no lack of buyers in the Sangh Parivar. His proximity to Ms. Mayawati, when she was Chief Minister of the BJP-BSP Government had set the tongues wagging that she had given him a free run in the Public Works Department, considered money-spinning.

Mr. Misra was among the few aspirants who had targeted the former Chief Minister, Mr. Kalyan Singh. But, when a final decision was taken by the BJP leadership to remove him, the claim of Mr.Misra, who appeared to be ahead of others in the race, was ignored almost with a contempt. The Sangh Parivar had allegedly played a role in it. The ``image'' was held against him by a handful of RSS leaders, whose opinion on Uttar Pradesh affairs mattered.

Although the BJP central leadership has made it plain that the present incumbent, Mr. Ram Prakash Gupta, would continue, there is no firm assurance that the party would face the Assembly poll under his stewardship. And that would provide an opportunity to Mr. Kalraj Misra and others to stand up and be counted. The resignation on a minor provocation from a Samajwadi Party MLA, based on a letter with no charge levelled against

him, is apparently an exercise at refurbishing his ``image''. That a stint in the party organisation without the trappings of the office, would help him retrieve his position, is the obvious calculation.

His supporters, are unwilling to see him wearing sackcloth and ashes even for a day, outside the Cabinet. Many will blame these worthies for Mr. Misra's present predicament that he could not convince a section of the Sangh Parivar leaders about his honesty. The impatient lot hope that the Assembly Speaker, Mr.Kesari Nath Tripathi would find a way out by his ruling on the letter of the PWD Engineers' Association Chief, Mr. Ambika Prasad Misra, that nothing was alleged personally against him. The Engineers's Chief had alleged several months ago that 15-20 per cent of the allocations were being deducted at the PWD headquarters by seniors and sought action against the culprits. However, no action followed. The Chief Minister has not accepted Mr. Kalraj Mishra's resignation, nor he ordered any inquiry as sought by him. The indifferent attitude of the BJP and Sangh Parivar leadership holds no hope for Mr. Kalraj Misra's supporters that he would be able to withdraw his resignation with a face-saving formula.

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Section  : Regional
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