With the Bharatiya Janata Party leadership no longer inclined towards Kalyan Singh, the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister is likely to float a political party. The decision in this regard is understood to have been taken after day-long deliberations Mr. Singh had with his supporters at his residence in Lucknow on Friday. Formal announcement would be made at a later date.
Mr. Singh had earlier announced that he would not take political “sanyas”.
After calling off his friendship and political alliance with Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh last month, Mr. Kalyan Singh had sent feelers to the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leadership, and had said that he was ready to undergo penance for leaving the party. But, with the BJP and the Sangh leadership non-committal on the prospect of Mr. Singh’s re-induction in the party, forming a new party was the only option before him.
Today’s discussions with his supporters was the second such meeting, with the first one having taken place in New Delhi a few days ago.
Mr. Singh kept himself away from the media but his supporters said that instead of tagging along with the BJP it was better to form a political party. Yadunandan Lal Verma from Hardoi district, who belongs to the Lodh backward caste (to which Mr. Kalyan Singh also belongs ) said that as BJP candidates they secured about 20 per cent Lodh votes but a new party would ensure about 80 per cent support of the Lodhs.
Mr. Singh had formed the Rashtriya Kranti Party (RKP) after his exit from the BJP in 1999 following differences with former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. He had then vowed to finish the BJP in U.P. When the Mulayam Singh Government was formed in 2003, the RKP became an ally of the Samajwadi Party with his son, Rajveer Singh and protégé, Kusum Rai, becoming Cabinet Ministers. The alliance did not last long and Mr. Kalyan Singh returned to the BJP fold before the Lok Sabha elections in 2004. However, the BJP gained little from his return. In the 2007 Assembly elections, he was touted as the shadow Chief Minister, but the BJP slid to third position in the Assembly.
Prior to the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, Mr. Singh again left the BJP and once again joined hands with Mr. Mulayam Singh. His son was inducted in the SP and made the national general secretary. The former BJP leader campaigned for the SP in the Lok Sabha polls and even shared dais with SP leaders in the party’s national convention in Agra in August this year.
The Mulayam-Kalyan relationship soured in the aftermath of the SP’s rout in Firozabad Lok Sabha and 11 UP Assembly by-elections in November. He terminated the contract accusing Mr. Mulayam Singh of deceit.
