M A I N   N E W S

UP for grabs 2007
Faction fighting in saffron camp
Anita Katyal
Tribune News Service

Gorakhpur, May 1
The BJP top brass may have succeeded in persuading its rebellious MP from Gorakhpur, Yogi Adityanath, to return to the party fold but internal faction battles in the saffron camp continue to rage.

The 34-year-old head of the Gorakshnmath Peeth yields considerable influence in this area. Realising that the party could end up paying a heavy price by alienating him in the ongoing Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, the BJP leadership went out of its way to placate the angry Yogi by agreeing to give tickets to a number of his nominees.

However, this truce may well prove to be tenuous. A Large sections of BJP local workers resent the Yogi's unyielding hold in this area and blame him for promoting his outfit, the Hindu Yuva Vahini, at the party's cost. Unhappy that the party leadership had given in to the Yogi's tantrums, his detractors are working overtime to pull him down.

On the other hand, Yogi Adityanath has apparently not forgiven the party completely for denying tickets to his candidates. He is running a half-hearted campaign and has confined himself primarily to the assembly segments of his nominees. In fact, the Yogi is faced with double trouble.

Acknowledging that there are internal problems in the party here, both the common man on the street and the BJP worker maintain that this election will prove to be a litmus test for the Yogi whose personal popularity and reputation are at stake. For instance, the Yogi is toiling hard to ensure a spectacular win for his nominee Radha Mohandas Aggarwal from the Gorakhpur city seat, well-known as his citadel. It is highly unlikely that the BJP will loose this seat but internal sabotage is not ruled out.

"The BJP here is faced with a lot of problems… there are people in his own party who are working against him," remarked Shambhu Nath, a retired railway employee, a sentiment echoed by several others here.

Similar reports are pouring in from several other constituencies. The Yogi forced the BJP to replace its candidate T.P.Shukla in the neighbouring Sehajanwan constituency with his nominee Ashwani Tripathi but this did not go down well with the former who has entered the fray as a rebel candidate and could end up playing the spoiler for the BJP.

Contrary to popular belief that the Gorakhpur belt is a BJP stronghold, the saffron party's popularity graph has actually dipped over the years. It failed to win any of the nine seats in this Lok Sabha constituency in the 2002 assembly election and picked up a paltry ten seats of a total of 59 seats falling in the Gorakhpur, Deoria, Mau, Kushinagar and Mahrajganj belt.

With the Samajwadi Party on the wane, BJP strategists believe this area is ripe for the picking and is, therefore, making all-out efforts to improve its tally here.

Former BJP president Venkaiah Naidu, who is overseeing the poll campaign here, said the BJP's growing popularity and Yogi's personal influence make for a winning combination.

"We are set to reap a rich harvest here,” he adds confidently, stating that the BJP's recent victories in Punjab, Uttarakhand and Delhi and its resurgence in UP has galvanised the workers.

Political players set for the kill

As the month-long seven-phase crucial Uttar Pradesh assembly poll enters the last lap, all key political players are moving in for the kill.

The 59 seats in the Gorakhpur and adjoining areas in Eastern UP will see a virtual carpet bombing by all major leaders from all political parties within the next few days. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh addressed a meeting here today while Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Lok Sabha MP Rahul Gandhi will be here on May 4 and 5 in the hope of improving the chances of a handful of party candidates who are said to be in the fight.

The BJP, which hopes to make substantial gains in this phase, will be moving in an army of senior party leaders, including L.K.Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, Rajnath Singh and Kalyan Singh, for a whirlwind tour. Stating that the party is making an all-out effort in this phase, former BJP president Venkaiah Naidu said that in addition a host of other party seniors will be working behind the scenes to keep the party machinery ticking.

BSP chief Mayawati, who is riding a wave of popularity, and is widely believed to be heading for the number one slot, will be here on May 5 to boost the morale of her candidates.