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BJP dissidents bay for Kalyan's blood again

In a sudden change of strategy, dissident legislators of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, who had suspended their agitation to remove Chief Minister Kalyan Singh during the political crisis at the Centre, brought back the issue to fore on Wednesday.

They requested the party leadership to replace the chief minister before the coming Lok Sabha election.

Nine of the more than 60 dissident legislators told a press conference that they had to renew the demand because "the BJP would not find it easy to win its Lok Sabha seats in the state if Mr Kalyan Singh was the leader."

''The chief minister is up to a two-pronged strategy of increasing casteist animosity in the state and black-mailing the leadership in Delhi,'' they alleged.

The dissidents claimed that Kalyan Singh at a rally of backward caste members delivered an ''inflammatory speech that was unbecoming of the party's principles.''

They recalled that the party leadership had assured them of assuaging their feelings at an appropriate time.

The leaders who were present at the press meet were former ministers Devendra Singh ''Bholey'' and Ravidra Shukla besides Surjit Singh Dung, Rajesh Pandey, Tanvir Hyder Usmani, Neeraj Chaturvedi, Kedar Nath Phoniya, Mohan Singh and Suman Lata.

UNI

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