Govindacharya rules out split

LUCKNOW, Nov 28 (PTI) — Seeking to contain possible revolt in the party following the suspension of ousted Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh from primary membership of the BJP, the party high command today rushed to Lucknow party General Secretary K.N. Govindacharya who ruled out a split in the party in the state.

"I do not see any split in the party in the wake of Mr Kalyan Singh’s suspension", Mr Govindacharya told reporters here and added "I have come here to ensure that opposition parties do not take advantage of the present political situation".

He said there was neither any threat to the Ram Prakash Gupta ministry in Uttar Pradesh nor any possibility of a split in the party.

Apparently hinting that the BJP central leadership would not hesitate to take a tougher action against Mr Kalyan Singh, unrelenting in his criticism of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Mr Govindacharya asserted no one was indispensable in the party.

Mr Kalyan Singh, on the other hand, was busy preparing the reply to the show-cause notice served on him by the BJP high command asking him to explain why he would not be expelled from the party, sources close to the former Chief Minister said.

Mr Govindacharya claimed the issue of Kalyan Singh’s attack on Mr Vajpayee and his suspension would not even be raised in the forthcoming meeting of the state BJP in Gorakhpur which has been convened to analyse the reasons for the party’s reverses in recent Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh.

Prompted by the possible adverse fall-outs in the party over the suspension, two state ministers Lalji Tandon and Kalraj Mishra, who had led oust-Kalyan campaign, said they did not think any "intelligent" party worker would rally behind the ousted Chief Minister.

"We do not think any intelligent party leaders or workers would join Kalyan Singh now", they said adding "such a move would be suicidal".

"Whosoever left the party in the past remained isolated and this is what is going to happen in the case of Mr Kalyan Singh also" said Mr Tandon and Mr Mishra.

The no 2 Mall Avenue residence of Kalyan Singh wore a deserted look through rest of the day today after a handful of his supporters had visited him in the morning.

"Mr Kalyan Singh is busy preparing his reply to the show cause notice served to him", sources close to him said.

Mr Tandon and Mr Mishra said Mr Kalyan Singh by openly criticising the Prime Minister had in fact "insulted the country because no one would tolerate such utterances against Mr Vajpayee."

"Everyone in the party is full of anger and annoyed with the kind of utterances Mr Kalyan Singh has made against the Prime Minister," Mr Tandon said.

On the raking up the Ayodhya issue, Mr Mishra said BJP workers and people in general are intelligent enough to understand Mr Kalyan Singh’s "game-plan."

Asserting that the party was fully united, the two senior BJP leaders said they hoped that Mr Kalyan Singh would repent his "mistakes."

Meanwhile, former Union Minister Satya Pal Singh Yadav today justified the suspension of Mr Kalyan Singh and said such an action from the party high command was inevitable after former Chief Minister made a scathing attack on Mr Vajpayee.

The party high command gave enough time and had patience in allowing Mr Kalyan Singh to improve his working but the latter was adamant in continuing his attack on the leadership, Mr Yadav said.

The rebellious attitude of leaders like Balraj Madhok, Saklecha or Waghela in the BJP took them nowhere, he said and pointed out that Mr Kalyan Singh allegedly played a role in ensuring the defeat of a number of BJP candidates in the recent Lok Sabha elections.

"All the backwards, Mr Yadav claimed, were solidly behind Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee."

"One can only regret that Mr Kalyan Singh has become a victim of false pride and ego," he added.