Kalyan Singh stands firm, forces BSP to back off
Sharat Pradhan in Lucknow
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh's forthright
approach compelled the Bahujan Samaj Party on Sunday night
to back off and come to terms with the Bharatiya Janata Party --
its coalition partner in the state.
The manner in which BSP chief Kanshi Ram and his understudy
Mayawati called a truce in the war
of attrition between the allies was clearly a climb down
for the BSP.
The two BSP leaders, who seemed adamant about
removing Kalyan Singh as UP chief minister for what they called his 'anti-dalit approach,' before the meeting of the central coordination
committee of the coalition partners in New Delhi on Sunday,
soon realised they were on a weak wicket.
Kalyan Singh's
adversaries within the BJP, led by former party president Murli Manohar Joshi
and state minister Kalraj Misra, also realised the futility of their
whispering campaign against the UP chief minister. On Sunday,
it was Misra who trained his guns on the BSP.
Kalyan Singh's meetings with former prime minister
Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Friday night and Saturday morning turned the tide and
sounded the death knell
for the anti-Kalyan campaign within the BJP.
Kanshi Ram and Mayawati knew it was futile to continue their tirade against
the chief minister without support from Kalyan Singh's adversaries in his party.
Kalyan Singh travelled to Delhi
with enough evidence to refute the BSP's allegation that he was 'anti-dalit'. He
carried with him a complete dossier of the atrocities
committed on dalits during Mayawati's tenure as chief minister;
the figure was not less than what it had been during previous chief ministers's
terms in office. He also had with him reports of the misuse of the Dalit Act -- in chronological order, together
with Mayawati's statements on different occasions, stressing
the need to prevent misuse of the legislation.
On the question of bureaucratic transfers -- another issue where the BSP
blamed Kalyan Singh for his 'anti-dalit' approach -- the
chief minister clarified his position to Vajpayee. He convinced the
former prime minister that caste
had not been a consideration in the transfer of civil servants,
and this was a canard being spread by his adversaries.
From the list of officers reshuffled after he assumed the chief
minister's office, it was evident that only 'corrupt
and tainted' officials were shunted off to 'insignificant' positions while honest officers were rewarded with prized assignments. That, he pointed out to Vajpayee, also
included a number of upright dalit oficers sidelined by the Mayawati administration.
Kalyan Singh also showed Vajpayee a portfolio of press clippings where BSP ministers had attacked the chief minister in disregard of constitutional
'collective responsibility'. That finally proved counter-productive
for the BSP.
Its ministers have now been told by Kanshi Ram
to keep away from the demonstrations proposed at all
district headquarters on Wednesday against Kalyan Singh's order on
the 'misuse of the dalit act'. The demonstrations, which BSP ministers
were earlier supposed to participate in, will
now remain a token protest, more a face-saving
gesture than anything else.
Kalyan Singh, highly placed BJP sources said, made
it clear to both his party's leaders that ''enough was enough.''
He startled his party leadership when he said he would rather sacrifice the chief minister's chair than obey the BSP's diktats. BJP leaders agreed that when he could remain silent and not interfere in Mayawati's administration for six months, there was need for him to brook any interference from the BSP now.
Game, set and match to Kalyan Singh.
EARLIER REPORTS:
More trouble for Kalyan Singh govt
'Tainted' officials get the boot as Kalyan vows to end corruption
Mayawati, Kalyan have an axe to grind in keeping 'dalit' storm alive
Mayawati-Kalyan war threatens UP coalition
Fear of Mulayam's proxy rule forces BSP to relent
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