It will be a crown of thorns — UP CM-designate Gupta

“I was asked by the Prime Minister to attend a meeting at the PM’s house at8.30 pm and I am leaving for that,” said Ram Prakash Gupta, aseptuagenarian, who will be the next Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.Gupta had been deputy chief minister in the 1977 government, two-time MLAand MLC and was at present vice-chairman, state planning commission, aCabinet rank minister’s post.

Reacting to his future role as administrator of the State, Gupta said, “Itwill be a crown of thorns” but expressed the belief that with the supportof party leaders and allies, there would be a unified effort to put theState on the road to development.

A shy and moderate Gupta, who is not even known by young MLAs of the party,is preparing to assume the command of this sprawling state at a juncturewhen the party is divided on caste lines and marred with groupism and alliesare ready to put pressure on the Chief Minister.

Among the first to meet him after his selection for the Chief Minister’spost were LCP leaders Amar Mani Tripathi and Fateh Bahadur Singh, bothministers.

“We welcome the BJP’s decision and hope that there would be a constructiveapproach to all issues under the new leadership. We hope that stability willreturn to the State after long months of uncertainty which virtually broughtthe State to a standstill,” they told The Indian Express soon afterextending greetings to the CM-designate.

“I hope there will be no problems from the allies. Their rights will besecured. I have the support of all, including the allies, and that is mystrength,” said Gupta.

To the outgoing Chief Minister, Gupta said: “Kalyan Singhji is our leaderand I will sit on the chair only when he will direct me.”

The CM-designate who was almost in political exile for the last one decade,termed the performance of the BJP at the recent Lok Sabha elections as atragic one and blamed the selection of candidates for the rout. He contestedhis last election in 1989 from Lucknow central but could not win and wasdenied a ticket in 1996 from the same segment.

But he has given strong signals that he knows the nerve of the state andwould attempt to remove the problems.“There is an economic crunch but thisis common all over the country. This is not as grave as is being projected.It is all a game of statistics,” he pointed out. He also hoped thatgroupism in the BJP might end now.

“The differences within the party are between the individuals and the partyas a whole is not divided. I will talk to all the people and run thegovernment with their support,” he pointed out, in what is an entirelyopposite approach of Kalyan Singh who was charged with being autocratic infunctioning and incommunicado to allies and even party workers.

Another shift from Kalyan’s approach is that of leaving every controversialthing to the party high command at the Centre. “The decision rests with theparty high command,” he replied when reminded that he would be heading ajumbo ministry and if there would be an attempt from his side for itspruning.

The opposition leaders, however, termed the move of the BJP’s centralleadership to check further damage.“Anyone from the trio of Lalji Tandon,Kalraj Mishra and Rajnath Singh for the post would have been dangerous forthe party. But none can save the State from going to polls in March becausethe government will collpase soon,” commented Ram Sharan Das, StateSamajwadi Party chief.

Congress Legislature Party leader Pramod Tiwari said, “The BJP has tried togive the CM’s post to a non-controversial leader. But the controversy startsfrom the chair and Gupta will also not be able to check it.”