It is precisely this centrality of UP in national politics that should worry the BJP, now that dissidence against Kalyan Singh refuses to go away. In marked contrast to the scene in Delhi, where the party rallied around a beleaguered Vajpayee to the last person, in Lucknow it is his own party members who pose the greatest threat to Kalyan Singh's continuation in office. All through April, the oust-Kalyan Singh campaign has been gathering momentum. Three weeks ago a group of MLAs had sought to take their quarrel with the chief minister to the party high command in Delhi. Next week, an even bigger delegation of dissidents is planning to revisit the Capital to press their case. The allegations are that the chief minister, apart from being high-handed and arrogant, is also vindictive and oppressive in his ways. There is also a great deal of heartburn over what is perceived to be blatantly partisan attempts on Kalyan Singh's part to promote his own favourites, including the corporator andsocial welfare board chairperson, Kusum Rai. His detractors are also demanding that the CBI report on the Brahm Dutt Dwivedi murder case, which could prove an embarrassment to the chief minister, be made public. Whether all these demands are provoked by a genuine desire to cleanse the party or whether they are the disingenuous attempts of compromised politicians anxious to have the cases against them made void, as Kalyan Singh supporters allege, is a moot point.

Sorting out this mess would require the wisdom of a Solomon, but sort it out the party must if it doesn't want to preside over its own destruction. Kalyan Singh, with many years of a distinctly manipulative brand of politics behind him, knows this better than anyone else. He has, so far, been successful in preventing the BSP's Mayawati from doing a deal with his party but it may be difficult for him to continue to hold out against his baiters. Thus far, the BJP's leadership has preferred to leave the matter unaddressed given its intractable natureand its preoccupations in Delhi. But the volatile nature of contemporary politics makes this option a luxury that the party can no longer afford.