BJP suspends Kalyan
Tribune News Service and agencies

NEW DELHI, Nov 27 (PTI) — Outraged at former UP Chief Minister Kalyan Singh's intemperate outbursts against Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, the BJP today suspended him but a defiant Kalyan Singh stood by his "bitter truth" of conspiracy against him, almost daring the party to expel him.

Announcing the suspension of Kalyan Singh after an emergency meeting of the BJP Parliamentary Board, party President Kushabhau Thakre told mediapersons that the former Chief Minister had "tarnished the image of the BJP" and been given a week's time to explain his conduct.

BJP General Secretary K. N. Govindacharya tonight indicated that the "irresponsible statements" by former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh "would leave the party with no other option but to expel him".

"As the situation stands today, the irresponsible statements by Mr Kalyan Singh would leave the party with no other option except to expel him. Let us see," he told Star TV in an interview.

He justified the suspension of Mr Kalyan Singh from the primary membership of the party as "he had tried to personalise the battle." The decision to suspend him was a collective one and not by a single individual, Mr Govindacharya said.

Asked whether Mr Kalyan Singh’s expulsion could lead to a split in the party in the state, Mr Govindacharya said "there won’t be any split though some individuals may try to get out of the party".

However, Uttar Pradesh BJP (unit) general secretary Veer Singh Saroha, a close confidant of Mr Kalyan Singh, said the expulsion would lead to a split.

Mr Govindacharya, who is in charge of Uttar Pradesh in the party, said since the Lok Sabha elections "there had been lack of dialogue among colleagues and Mr Kalyan Singh did not cooperate even when it was envisaged to induct him into the Union Cabinet along with state unit president Rajnath Singh."

To the remark by Mr Saroha that 70 per cent of the BJP MLAs were with Mr Kalyan Singh, Mr Govindacharya countered saying that "let Mr Kalyan Singh cross seven, we will see. Due to the work culture of the party, there is no individual following and less than 5 per cent would have personal loyalty."

He expressed surprise that Mr Kalyan Singh had raised the Ayodhya issue even though he was party to the decision that it would not figure in the national agenda of governance drawn up by the BJP-led national democratic alliance.

However, an unrepentant Kalyan Singh reacted, saying he had only spoken the "bitter truth" and his suspension was the result of a "conspiracy" at the highest level.

Back on his home turf of Lucknow from Delhi within hours of his suspension, he told the media: "The conspiracy against me has been hatched at the behest of the highest command (read Vajpayee) and, perhaps, he would not rest until I am expelled from the party."

"I have not said anything but the truth, both in Delhi and Aligarh, during the past two days and the truth does not call for suspension, however, bitter it may be," an emotional Kalyan Singh said.

He also accused the Prime Minister of "blatant bias" against him and trying to undermine his authority even when he was the Chief Minister, asserting that he had "enough proof" to substantiate his charge.

Mr Kalyan Singh charged Mr Vajpayee with indifference to the party's future since he had already achieved "whatever he could politically" and said "no self-respecting person is wanted in the party anymore."

He had earlier questioned the party's projection of Mr Vajpayee as Prime Minister as a vote-catching prop, saying it should be analysed why the BJP tally of 182 Lok Sabha seats had remained static despite such projection.

Mr Kalyan Singh had also asserted that the party had suffered because of putting on the backburner crucial issues such as the Ayodhya temple and uniform civil code.

The issue reached a flashpoint when he was asked to step down by the party leadership which asserted that he had owned moral responsibility for the BJP's reverses in the recent Lok Sabha elections in the state and Mr Kalyan Singh maintained that he had been "hanged" without a trial that was allowed to even Nathuram Godse, assassin of Mahatma Gandhi.

Mr Vajpayee on his first visit to Lucknow after the elections last Thursday sought to smoothen Mr Kalyan Singh's ruffled feathers by publicly stating that he could not be singled out as being responsible for the party's poor performance and that he wanted to make use of his vast experience in his Cabinet.

However, as Mr Vajpayee talked sweet, Mr Kalyan Singh from his hometown of Aligarh spewed venom, saying the Prime Minister wanted his ouster and would not let him hold any important position and that he would not accept any such position as long as Mr Vajpayee occupied the high office.