After a humiliating defeat, it is time for a facelift. Uttar Pradesh BJP president Vinay Katiyar and leader of the opposition in the state Assembly Lalji Tandon are set to lose their jobs. The hunt has begun for their replacements.Sources say that the high command, fed up with conflicting ambitions of the state leaders, is keen on installing a fresh face as the state president, instead of experimenting again with Rajnath Singh and Kalraj Mishra.Former chief minister Kalyan Singh is tipped for a major role at the national level. Singh, who has been elected to the Lok Sabha from Bulandshahr, may be named a party vice-president and placed in charge of the state.The task before the new state BJP dispensation is enormous given the dismal performance of the party — 10 out of 80 seats — in Lok Sabha polls. Katiyar and Tandon are both considered inadequate to revive the party’s fortunes with Congress showing signs of an upswing. The BJP, fearing an exodus of the upper-caste vote to the Congress, is desperate to stem the tide.Katiyar, who was made the state president following Mishra’s resignation over two years ago, has failed to grow in to the new role. Moreover, he has lost the Lok Sabha poll even after moving from Faizabad to Kheri.Tandon is considered inappropriate for a variety of reasons. A Punjabi Khatri, he does not fit in to the nitty gritty of UP’s caste-ridden politics. Being too soft towards Samajwadi Party president and Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, he obviously does not make up for an inspiring opposition leader. He owed his position to his proximity to former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. With his stock down after the saree stampede case, there is no one to patronise him.The high command is yet to zero in on anyone for the state president’s job. One name doing the rounds is former minister Surya Pratap Shahi, who hails from the Deoria area of eastern UP. A Bhumihar, Shahi is known to share a good rapport with with Kalyan Singh.The sources said the party is inclined to instal an upper-caste leader as the state president and balance it with the appointment of an OBC leader as the legislature party leader or vice versa. This may facilitate the emergence of former state president Om Prakash Singh as the leader of the opposition in the assembly.
