LUCKNOW, April 13: Besides his perennial problem of prods from allies for portfolio's in his jumbo ministry, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh is also getting deluged by problems from within the party cadre. The party cadre and ministers voiced their resentment for Kalyan's inaccessibility in the two-day soul-searching session of the BJP at Vrindavan recently. Cornered by his own men, Kalyan had to literally spell out his daily programme during the convention.Now, the Chief Minister, as per his announced diurnal agenda, has to be available to grant audience to his ministers at any and all times, and for party legislators a one-hour time has been earmarked. Similarly, the CM will be meeting members of the Party's executive committee every Tuesday.Again, Kalyan faces the brunt of intensified pressure from the upper caste group within the party which has recently stepped up canvassing to replace him with a Chief Minister from the upper caste.The state party chief Rajnath Singh, a Thakur bycaste, is being considered a challenger to Kalyan if his opponents are to be believed.The anti-Kalyan lobby within the party has already floated the idea of shifting Kalyan to the Centre. The move had a telling affect on Kalyan.He happily agreed on being chief guest at a Kshtriya Sammelan, a congregation of Thakurs, in Lucknow on Sunday. Kalyan, who was heaped with roses and numerous titles by an enthusiastic crowd of Thakurs, tried to project himself as the ``one from their own family''.This is seen as a calculated game by Kalyan to change his image as a leader of the backward classes. By announcing several packages for the welfare of the community, he has sent the clear message that he intends to prove his opponents in the party wrong.So much for the siege within the party, Kalyan's allies forms part two of his regular bugbears.The Loktanktrik Congress Party has put pressure on evolving a common minimum programme for the effective running of the Government. The flock of five BSP legislatorswho branched out from the parent party on the eve of Holi and were made ministers have also pestered Singh for allocation of portfolios.But Kalyan, knowing that ministerial expansion is a virtual pandora's box, is delaying the expansion.Kalyan Singh has said on Monday that the UP govt was determined to construct the Ram Mandir as it was connected with the dignity, self respect, unity and integrity of India.Kalyan said that the Mandir issue was not related to any religion or sect. Addressing the Kshatriya Pratinidhi Sammelan (KPS) here he said the government would fulfill its commitment regarding the construction of the mandir. However, he added, that the issue would be solved through discussions. On the occasion, he said a magnificent memorial would be erected in Lucknow in the memory of Maharana Pratap and a 30-bed hospital, to be named after Maharani Laxmibai, would be built in Rajajipuram.
