LUCKNOW, OCT 19: The official residence of PWD Minister Kalraj Mishra, 11 Vikramaditya Marg, has suddenly become the favourite haunt of a number of BJP ministers, allies, Independents and also bureaucrats. The phone rings incessantly and callers include BJP MLAs from distant districts and senior officials posted in Lucknow.Officially, each visitor including Sanjay Singh, Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya (Independent), Markandeya Chand (JBSP) and Raghubar Dayal Verma (Samata Party) had come to exchange greetings on Dussehra but the stream of visitors to the Vikramaditya Marg house clearly indicated that Mishra is clearly among the reckoning if the central BJP leadership is toying with the idea of removing Kalyan Singh after the party debacle in recent Lok Sabha elections in the state.No minister or senior party leaders is ready to go on record on the likely change in leadership and replacement of Kalyan but off the record they agreed that Kalraj has emerged as the consensus candidate.TheIndependents led by Raghuraj Pratap Singh, who pledged support to the BJP government, are holding a meeting in Lucknow on Wednesday to specify their role in the prevailing political uncertainty in the state over the leadership. The allies are divided on several other issues but are unanimous on their point that any decision over change of leadership in the state should not be taken before taking them into confidence.``This (leadership issue) is the internal issue of the BJP but the central leadership of the party should not ignore us if they took a decision to remove Kalyan Singh,'' said the LCP chief Naresh Agarwal who met Kalraj on Monday.Amidst reports that Kalraj could be the likely successor to Kalyan Singh, the former is showing no eagerness and carrying out with his routine. ``At least I do not know that there is a move to replace Kalyan Singh. All reports concerning the issue are doing rounds only in newspapers,'' he said, adding quickly that he, being a disciplined soldier of the party, wouldaccept any responsibility given by the party's leadership. He said there was no doubt that the party had suffered a major loss at hustings and there was a need for a through self introspection.
