Mulayam abetted UP coup to win in Sambhal
George Iype in New Delhi
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh
Yadav's political survival was said to be one factor that led to the toppling of
the Kalyan Singh government in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday.
Close associates of the SP chief said the defence minister agreed
to prop up Jagdambika Pal as UP chief minister as he feared that
the Kalyan Singh government would have left no stone unturned
to ensure his defeat in Sambhal.
The SP president faced the toughest electoral battle of his life
in the Sambhal constituency where he was pitted against the BJP-supported
Loktantrik Bahujan Samaj Party candidate D P Yadav.
Mulayam Singh feared that if Kalyan Singh remained the chief minister,
the UP administration would ensure D P Yadav's victory
through largescale booth capturing, rigging and violence.
The ousted UP chief minister, along with his two controversial ministers Raghuraj
Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiyya and Hari Shankar Tiwari, had visited
Sambhal constituency on Friday.
They had reportedly directed the police and administrative officials
that Mulayam Singh should not be allowed to win from Sambhal at any
cost. Both Raja Bhaiyya and Tiwari had allegedly entered the constituency
with armed goons and 400 vehicles to create problems on the polling
day.
While Kalyan Singh returned to Lucknow on Friday, the two
ministers were campaigning in Sambhal when the political coup in
Lucknow took place.
Sambhal, along with 32 other constituencies in UP, went to the polls
on Sunday. But polling in this prestigious constituency was by
and large peaceful.
Fearing that the Kalyan Singh government was conspiring to trigger off violence
in Sambhal, Mulayam Singh had written to the Chief Election Commissioner
Dr M S Gill, asking him to ensure a free and fair election
in his constituency.
The defence minister is said to have begun his political moves
to topple the Kalyan Singh regime after D P Yadav filed his
nomination papers from Sambhal.
Sources in the United Front said there was a general
consensus in the Front as well as in the Congress party that Mulayam
Singh's defeat from Sambhal would be a blow to the anti-BJP forces
in the country.
Mulayam Singh and SP general secretary
Amar Singh have been negotiating with non-BJP leaders
in the state for some days now.
All the parties had agreed to a political coup against the BJP in
UP even before the election campaign begun, but the only difference
of opinion was about the next chief ministerial candidature. There was
no consensus on Loktantrik Congress chief Naresh Aggarwal's
name.
Finally, just one day before polling in Sambhal took
place, Mulayam Singh's efforts succeeded and Jagdambika Pal emerged
as the consensus candidate for the chief minister's post.
Pal is a Thakur and a close associate of Mulayam Singh and Amar Singh, a Thakur himself.
The new UP chief minister is also close to senior Congress leader
Arjun Singh who has cordial relations with Bahujan
Samaj Party president Kanshi Ram and is said to have convinced the
BSP leadership about the need to throw out the BJP government
during the course of the Lok Sabha election.
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