Time out for Katiyar loyalists?

Srawan Kumar Shukla / TNN / Sep 14, 2004, 12:47 IST

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LUCKNOW: Heads of many Vinay Katiyar loyalists are likely to roll when the BJP state president Keshari Nath Tripathi announces the reconstituted BJP state committee in a day or two.

<div class="section0"><div class="Normal">LUCKNOW: Heads of many Vinay Katiyar loyalists are likely to roll when the BJP state president Keshari Nath Tripathi announces the reconstituted BJP state committee in a day or two. Barring two or three, majority of the Katiyar''s men are likely to be dropped.Tripathi too hinted that he would prefer new and young faces and give caste and region proper representation in his new team. Party sources claim that state vice-president HN Dixit and general secretary Dr Rampati Ram are few names from Katiyar''s team who may catch the bus again, while others are likely to be shown the door. As per amendment in the BJP Constitution, the party state unit can now have a 18-member state committee instead of 14-member as was the case earlier. Besides state president, the 18-member state committee will have six vice-presidents, four general secretaries, six secretaries and one treasurer. But what took Tripathi almost two months to reconstitute the state committee? Party sources claim that Tripathi succumbed to the pulls and pressures from senior leaders to accommodate their men. He had announced to reconstitute the committee early August, but delayed it when flooded with requests from senior state as well central leaders to accommodate their men. While senior leader Kalraj Mishra was not given any weightage in the formation of the new team, the new party state affairs incharge Kalyan Singh is learnt to have major say in the reconstitution of the new team. Former Union minister and party general secretary Rajnath Singh and senior state leader Lalji Tandon too managed to grab a few posts for their men leaving Tripathi in a tight spot to chose his team independently. "Tripathi had an opportunity to show his organisational skills but he miserably failed and succumbed to the usual pressure groups," quips an office-bearer. In the last two days, Tripathi has consulted party central leaders including national president M Venkaiah Naidu to give final touches to his new team. He also held detailed discussion with Sangh Parivar leaders and Kalyan Singh to ensure that the much-awaited announcement did not kick up a row. On the unusual delay, Tripathi defends himself saying that choosing the right person to hold an important post takes time. Then, he claims, that giving caste and representation to each region is no less a stupendous task in selecting a team. He denied the charge that delay in announcing the new team was due to internal pressure and was affecting functioning of the party state unit. "We had launched a tirade against the Mulayam government on its failure in the last two months. After the new team assumes charge, we would take up issues plaguing people to sharpen our attack on the present regime," he clarified. </div> </div>

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