U.P. CM in Delhi to discuss party crisis

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, MAY 18. For the second time in a week, the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr. Ram Prakash Gupta, is here to discuss with the party leadership a host of problems confronting the Bharatiya Janata Party in U.P., including his own future.

Today, Mr. Gupta met the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, and during his last visit, he met the party president, Mr. Kushabhau Thakre. His meeting with the Prime Minister was preceded by a meeting with the BJP's U.P. unit president, Mr. Om Prakash Singh. The two separate meetings took place at the Prime Minister's residence.

While party sources have ruled out the possibility of replacing the U.P. Chief Minister ``at this juncture'', restlessness in the State on this count is not being denied. ``Yes, a number of meetings are taking place, but at the moment there is no other `movement' which would indicate a dramatic change round the corner,'' a party functionary said.

The immediate problem is to identify a new State party chief. Organisational elections in the State are to be completed on May 21 with the election of the state party president, but the party has not yet made up its mind on the important position. The present president, Mr. Om Prakash Singh, was asked to take over on an ad hoc basis after his predecessor, Mr. Rajnath Singh, was inducted into the Union Cabinet. It is understood that the series of meetings relate to the new State unit president. Although the party is sure that the U.P. Government is stable, recently the Loktantrik Congress Party threatened to withdraw support if Haridwar district was included in the proposed state of Uttaranchal.

It was this development that made Mr. Gupta rush here two days ago and it is believed that his fears that the Uttaranchal Bill could destabilise his Government led the BJP to work out a strategy to ensure that the Bill was not introduced. At the same time the party planned to ``send a signal'' to the U.P. hill region that it was sincere, and that explained the feeble attempt by the Government to introduce the Bill.

The party is caught on the horns of a dilemma -- the pressure from its MPs and MLAs from the hill region in favour of early bifurcation of the State, while there are the threats from allies who are against the inclusion of certain areas in the proposed State. In fact, Samajwadi Party members have charged the BJP with playing a hoax, saying that they would never pass the Bill, for as soon as Uttaranchal becomes a reality, the BJP's U.P. Government would fall. It is in this context that the BJP is busy working out a strategy in U.P.

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Section  : National
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