Speculation as BJP leaders attend Kalyan bash

Will Kalyan Singh, former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and poster boy of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, play a central role in next year’s Assembly polls? Will he step down as the Governor of Rajasthan and return to U.P. as the BJP’s face of the backward community?

These were some of the questions that kept guests occupied at his 84th birthday celebrations here on Tuesday.

Traditionally, his birthdays have been celebrated in a grand fashion. A political hue was evident this time with the flow of BJP leaders at his official residence in Lucknow.

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh wished him on telephone and Twitter, over a dozen BJP MPs, including hardliners Sakshi Maharaj and Vinay Katiyar, rushed to the Mall Avenue lawns, bustling with ticket-seekers and party office-bearers.

Age a hurdle

The BJP leaders admit that owing to his age, Mr. Singh cannot be portrayed as a direct face of the party’s campaign, but feel his background would help in mobilising non-Yadav OBC votes. In addition to being associated with the Hindutva movement, Mr. Singh’s credentials as a backward caste leader of the Lodh community and his two-term tenure as CM, are being viewed as his plus points.

The speculation over a possible role for Mr. Singh got credence owing to his extended five-day stay in Lucknow, where he said he was ready for any role given to him. Over the weekend, he held a close-door meeting with BJP organisational secretary Sunil Bansal and also met U.P. Governor Ram Naik.

On record, BJP leaders did not make much of the birthday bash. “Every BJP leader is ready and prepared to play any role given to him or her,” party spokesperson Vijay Bahadur Pathak said.

The BJP is expected to nominate its new State president, with backward faces leading the pack of contenders. The outgoing BJP State chief is Laxmikant Bajpai, MLA from Meerut and a Brahmin.

BJP leaders admit in private that they are “short of a credible face,” who would be acceptable to all communities, and may consider a “multi-faced approach,” with an upper-caste and an OBC serving as the State president and the campaign face, in no fixed order.

“By falling into the trap of ‘projecting a face,’ we will be forced to play to the terms of the opposition parties, which have a face -- Akhilesh Yadav for Samajwadi Party and Mayawati for the Bahujan Samaj Party. We want to play the game on our pitch,” a senior BJP leader said.