Lucknow: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is planning to pitch in its Uma Bharti to campaign for the party in the Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh to balance the loss caused due to exit of Kalyan Singh.
BJP leadership is inclined to accept the offer of its former leader who had desired to campaign for the saffron pary in non-BJP ruled states.
Uma Bharti, who had left the party in 2003 to form her own Bharatiya Janashakti Party, has recently pledged faith in the prime ministerial candidature of LK Advani and offered her services to campaign in non-BJP ruled states.
BJP, already a beleaguered outfit in Uttar Pradesh, has suffered a jolt as the only Lodha leader left the party causing loss of votes on at least five parliamentary constituencies and about thirty Assembly segments.
The Lok Sabha seats where the influence of Kalyan Singh had been evident in the past including Aligarh, Etah, Bulandshahar and Farrukhabad and after delimitation Pilibhit had been added to it.
According to party insiders, Uma Bharti, a fire-brand leader who had been close to Kalyan Singh on the issue of Ayodhya temple, would be a viable alternative to check the loss caused after the exit of the former UP chief minister.
So much so that a section of the BJP was thinking on the lines of pitching her in UP in a big way using her aggressive pro-Hindu identity which had come to fore during the Ayodhya movement in late 80s and early 90s.
Bharti, also a Lodh, is being seen in the BJP circles as a potent force to counter the Kalyan factor for the benefit of BJP.
The BJP in UP had Sakshi Maharaj and Ganga Charan Rajput as Lodh leaders but both were no more with the party.
Moreover, if Uma Bharti campaigns in UP, it would keep her away from Madhya Pradesh, her native state she had ruled as CM. The BJP leadership in MP would be more than happy with the arrangement which may serve dual purpose for the party as the MP CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan would be too happy to see her away.
"It is a crucial general election for BJP as out of 80 Lok Sabha seats in UP, the party has only 10 MPs and the forward march in the state is pre-requisite to form NDA government at the Centre," a senior party functionary said here.
The BJP has announced candidates on 60-odd seats while it is to leave 10 seats for its allies namely Ajit Singh-led Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and Sharad Yadav-led Janata Dal (United).
The BJP Rajya Sabha member from UP and in-charge of election affairs in the state Kalraj Mishra look the offer of Bharti in a positive manner. "I think she will campaign in UP in support of the BJP," he said.
He said he had yet to speak to Uma Bharti in this regard and if she agreed to the same it would be a good proposition for the party in Uttar Pradesh.
"The party is in the process of finalising the mega-campaign in Uttar Pradesh from where the President Rajnath Singh, Vice-President Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and many senior leaders are contesting," he said.
Mishra further said the party had kept its options open to rope in Uma Bharti but the clearer picture would emerge only after another round of talks between the party leadership and Bharti took place.
He, however, had no comment to offer as to how the things could be managed in view of the assertion of Bharti that she would not leave her party but certainly help the cause of Advani becoming the prime minister.
Uma Bharti, though, has made it clear that she would not join the BJP under any circumstances and would continue to stregthen her own party before and after the elections. She, however, reposed faith in the leadership of Advani and BJP President Rajnath Singh.
Comments
0 comment