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Ram Prakash Gupta's joy may be short-lived

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

The Bharatiya Janata Party's central leadership will soon rid Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Ram Prakash Gupta of his illusion that it has no plans to ease him out. The actual plan is to replace him with former state unit chief and Union Minister Rajnath Singh after the panchayat elections in the state.

Sources in the state BJP unit told rediff.com that the high command has concluded that the coming assembly elections cannot be fought under Ram Prakash Gupta's leadership. While it is pushing for Rajnath Singh, a Rajput, the Brahmin lobby within the state unit is also eyeing the top post.

Gupta's position became shaky following the controversy about Hardwar's inclusion in the proposed hill state of Uttaranchal. Since the controversy broke out, he has made several visits to New Delhi and met senior party leaders. Union Human Resources Development Minister Dr Murli Manohar Joshi had even asserted that Gupta will not be replaced.

However, much water has flowed through the Gomti since then with the state unit having told the central leadership that Gupta had become more of a liability.

A senior minister in the Gupta ministry, Kalraj Mishra, recently met BJP chief Kushabhau Thakre and Prime Minister A B Vajpayee to discuss UP affairs. He made it clear that under Gupta the party's electoral prospects were bleak. He cited Gupta's failure to recognise ministers in his own cabinet as a major reason for his removal. Besides, the chief minister's contradictory statements were causing red faces in various echelons of the state government, Mishra is reported to have told them.

BJP spokesman M Venkaiah Naidu, however, refused to speculate about Gupta's fate. "Ram Prakash Gupta is still the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and, therefore, to speculate that he is being replaced, whether now or later, is grossly unfair. Whatever happens in the state will be seen by all. So, why should anybody be unduly concerned?" Naidu asked.

He described as 'routine' the recent visits of state leaders to Delhi.

It is only the infighting within the state unit, between the Brahmin and Rajput lobbies, that has saved Gupta, for the time being. Party sources said that it is the main reason for Rajnath Singh's reluctance to return to state politics. However, the high command had emphasised that its edict was supreme.

The BJP high command does not want a repetition of the Soron incident, where the party's candidate was mauled by former state chief minister Kalyan Singh's party candidate in a by-election. Kalyan Singh threatened to 'wipe out' the saffron party in the assembly polls. Apparently, the BJP leadership is taking no chances and is keen to replace Gupta with Rajnath Singh as soon as possible.

The sources said that chief ministerial hopefuls, like Kalraj Mishra and Lalji Tandon who represent the Brahmin lobby, would fall in line once the party leadership made it clear that it was backing Rajnath Singh. It had been suitably impressed by his deft handling of difficult allies like the Loktantrik Congress Party of Naresh Aggarwal.

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