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Kalyan woos Khurana, Sahib Singh Verma

Sharat Pradhan in Lucknow

Expelled Bharatiya Janata Party politician and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh claimed in Lucknow today that he was getting the support of senior members of the party, some of whom he proposes to meet in New Delhi tomorrow.

"I have already fixed a meeting over tea with both Mr Madan Lal Khurana and Mr Sahib Singh Verma, the two former chief ministers of Delhi," he told a press conference soon after his return from Jhansi, where he had gone to mobilise the support of BJP cadres.

Kalyan Singh proposes to hold a public rally in Kannauj, the stronghold of his confidant and expelled BJP politician Satchidanand Sakshi Maharaj, a former MP who crossed over to the Samajwadi Party after being denied the party ticket in the Lok Sabha election earlier this year.

But while his attempts to muster support in Uttar Pradesh had left the BJP leadership in Lucknow unruffled, Kalyan Singh's success in initiating a dialogue with two important politicians in the capital seems to have aroused concern at the highest levels.

"I have had a telephonic talk with both and we will have a detailed discussion when I meet them tomorrow," he said, adding, "We will exchange our thoughts over the humiliating treatment meted out to all of us."

Asked if he had spoken to senior party politician and another former Delhi chief minister Sushma Swaraj, who had uttered some words of sympathy for him, Kalyan Singh replied in the negative. "I have not had a word with her so far," he said, but "I will get in touch with many other party leaders who have been subjected to similar humiliation as myself".

While declaring that he had already finalised the name and constitution of his new party, Singh said he would refrain from disclosing them before submitting them to the Election Commission in New Delhi tomorrow.

Reiterating that his war against the BJP would destroy the party and bring it back to where it was a few years ago, he again castigated Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for ticking off Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Ram Prakash Gupta on the Ayodhya issue. "Vajpayee was trying to run down Gupta in the same manner that he had done with me," Singh remarked.

"Now since two leaders of the same party -- one heading the government in this state and the other at the national level -- are making contradictory statements on an important issue like Ayodhya, one of them should step down," he said.

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