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Sharat Pradhan in Lucknow
In a virtual about-turn from its earlier stand, the Bharatiya Janata Party state leadership is seeking a truce with the dissident legislators, who were provoked to raise a banner of revolt ever since Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati expanded her five-month-old council of ministers on October 11.
State BJP chief Vinay Katiyar, who had cracked the whip on Tuesday, and threatened to initiate disciplinary action against the defiant legislators, said on Wednesday evening: "I will take their message to the party's central leadership, which alone can take a decision on their demands."
While skirting questions about his initial stand for punitive action against the disgruntled lot, Katiyar appeared to be ready with an olive branch.
He even went to the extent of coming down all the way from the BJP state headquarters to the residence of one of the 'rebel' legislators Bharat Tripathi, where the whole bandwagon of some 20-odd dissidents had gathered for a meeting on Wednesday evening.
Katiyar did succeed in cajoling senior party MLA Ganga Bhakt Singh, who was leading the 'rebels' to join him to the party office, apparently to prove his point that all was well with the party.
But even after a quiet closed-door session with him, Singh appeared adamant. "We stick to our demand that all BJP ministers must pull out of the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition, and we should extend only external support to the government," he said.
The dissidents were also sticking to their guns on the question of talking only with a senior central leader. Former state BJP president Kalraj Misra's efforts to do the mediation on behalf of the central leadership did not seem to pay any dividends. Eventually, Vinay Katiyar conceded, "Well, if they so wish, I will persuade one of the senior central leaders to come down here to have a word with them."
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