The decision, taken around midnight last night after the Chief Minister chaired a high-level meeting, marks a turnaround by the BJP Government, but may not please Opposition parties and the minorities who have been at the forefront of criticism against the State Government for trying to ``saffronise education.''

``The damage has already been done. Withdrawing of the government order (GO) now will not serve the purpose,'' commented Ram Sharan Das, UP Samajwadi Party chief. ``The BJP has shown its communal face and has been forced to withdraw the order following widespread protest by us,'' said Nehalludin, president of the All-India Muslim Forum.

The Kalyan Singh Government had issued a``Kalp Yajana'', or a list of directives, for Government-aided schools to follow. Compulsory recitation of Vande Mataram and Saraswati Vandana was part of the yojana, which also asked schools to ``display prominently a 30 inch-by-18 inch portrait of Maa Saraswati'', and told ``children to leave school only after chanting Bharat Maa Ki Jaye''.

Understandably, there was a volley of protest against the yojana with the Muslim Law Board issuing a fatwa asking Muslims to withdraw their children/wards from those schools where it was being imposed. Things got complicated for the Kalyan Singh Government when the Prime Minister, during his tour of UP on November 25, declared that as per his knowledge the Uttar Pradesh Government had not issued any order on Saraswati Vandana and Vande Mataram.

But the facts were otherwise. Basic Education Minister Ravindra Shukla pointed out the GO making implementation of the Kalp Yojana in government schools a must, was issued onApril 25, and said Vajpayee was not aware of it due to ``lack of communication''.

The Chief Minister was embarrassed and many state BJP leaders blamed his Government for not briefing the Prime Minister adequately. In fact, Shukla added fuel to the fire as recently as yesterday when he claimed that he was mobilising support among ministerial colleagues by distributing copies of the Kalp Yojana so that ``it can be discussed in the Cabinet effectively''.

Therefore, cornered by his own minister amid a general feeling that the Chief Minister was responsible for the ``lack of communication'', Kalyan Singh decided not to press further. Suddenly last night, he withdrew the controversial order.

But with the minorities feeling the way they do about the BJP, and the Opposition sure to reap political harvest out of the issue, Kalyan Singh's decision may have come a bit too late.