Kalyan may steer UP

Rajnath is expected to get down to the task of revamping the leadership in UP, writes Hemendra Singh Bartwal.

After taking over as the BJP president, Rajnath Singh is expected to get down to the task of revamping the party leadership in home turf Uttar Pradesh where bete noire Kalyan Singh is slated to play a prominent role either as state unit president or in-charge of the party's affairs in the state.

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As the new party chief, one of the challenges before Rajnath is to salvage the BJP's position in Uttar Pradesh where it has slipped behind the SP and the BSP, and make a serious bid for power in the assembly elections due next year.

Former chief minister Kalyan, whose continuance in the central team of office-bearers under Rajnath will be untenable thanks to their rivalry in state politics, is being seen as the perfect candidate for heading the UP unit. Or he may get a larger role as the BJP man in-charge of the state.

This is in tune with the BJP's new formula: woo both backward and upper-caste voters. The party would like to project an OBC leader like Kalyan in the state even as Rajnath, an upper-caste Rajput, heads the BJP at the centre.

Rajnath evaded a direct reply when questioned about the party leadership in Uttar Pradesh but observed that Kalyan was the "seniormost" leader in the state and the government's performance under his chief ministership was "unparalleled".