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Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani on Friday urged Bharatiya Janata Party leaders from Uttar Pradesh to ignore minor pinpricks from Chief Minister Mayawati in the interest of the longevity of the BJP-Bahujan Samaj Party coalition government, party sources said.
In recent times, senior BJP leaders from the state have been increasingly complaining of being deliberately slighted by Mayawati.
On Wednesday, Chief Minister Mayawati had angered BJP leaders in the state by claiming that she had Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's mandate on the issue of "sticking to the rule book (in the governance of the state)."
She broadly insinuated that the BJP was in no position to destabilize the UP government irrespective of how she treated the party's state-level leaders.
A delegation of UP BJP leaders, including state unit chief Vinay Katiyar, Kalraj Mishra, Lalji Tandon and former chief minister Rajnath Singh, first met Advani and later Prime Minister Vajpayee on Friday to apprise them of the situation in the state.
Emerging after the meeting with Advani, Katiyar told reporters that Mayawati should bear in mind that the stability of the coalition government in the state depended not just on one party.
"She has an equal stake in the welfare of the coalition government," he pointed out.
However, despite pointing out that the BJP's prestige was at stake given Mayawati's continuing tirade against the party and its leaders, Advani reportedly told the delegation that with the party facing various challenges, they should ensure the continuance of the BSP-BJP government and desist from any acts, which could destabilise it, sources said.
"Advani feels that the central government's well-being depends on the support of parties like the BSP. Therefore, no attempt should be made to either antagonise such parties or adopt a confrontationist attitude against them," a senior UP BJP leader told rediff.com.
BJP national general secretary Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi did not visualise any problems cropping up in the BSP-BJP alliance in UP. "There could be minor irritants, but the government will last," he said.
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