The BJP leadership and the Sangh parivar are looking for a replacement of present state president Dr Ramapati Tripathi, who is a relatively unknown leader.

According to party leaders, Dr Tripathi failed to enthuse party leaders and workers during his tenure as the state president, which was reflected in the poor performance of the party during the last Lok Sabha elections and later in the by-elections to the UP assembly.

The BJP won only 10 seats in the Lok Sabha from UP; the party miserably failed in the by-elections held during the last two years to the UP assembly. In some places, the party candidates only polled between 2000 and 3000 votes. .

Significantly, Dr Tripathi was the personal choice of Mr. Rajnath Singh, who wanted to rule UP as well through his protégé.

The party leaders felt that during the two-and-a-half-year tenure of the Mayawati government, the party could not convince the people that it was the opposition party. Nor could the BJP successfully organise any protest against the deteriorating law and order situation in the state, collapse of constitutional institutions or inflation.

The BJP leadership is also divided over the issue of induction of veteran leader Kalyan Singh, who recently parted company with Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Ever since Kalyan Singh announced that he would again work for strengthening the BJP and damage the Samajwadi Party, several senior leaders of BJP including Surya Pratap Shahi and Vinay Katiyar, have got in touch with him.

There is a group in the BJP which wants Kalyan Singh to come back to the party. BJP president Nitin Gadkari also said that he would take leaders like Kalyan and Uma Bharti back in the party fold.

No doubt, Kalyan Singh had a long association with the party and RSS; he was presented as the hero of the Babri mosque demolition. But a group opposing his entry argues that Kalyan cannot be trusted as he has already left the party twice to join hands with Mulayam Singh Yadav.

The BJP in UP has always been a divided house which was reflected in the recent by-elections to Lucknow West assembly seats. Sitting MP Lalji Tandon openly opposed party candidate, Amit Puri resulting in his defeat.

Lalji Tandon, a close lieutenant of former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, wanted his son Gopal Tandon to be the party candidate for the assembly by-election.

Since the difference between Rajnath Singh and Lalji Tandon were known in party circles, the former humiliated Tandon by rejecting the candidature of Gopal. As if that was not enough, the party gave the ticket to Amit Puri, who has always opposed Tandon.

It may be mentioned that when Kalyan Singh was UP chief minister, senior leaders like Kalraj Mishra. Lalji Tandon and Rajnath Singh had joined hands to destabilise him. Later, when Rajnath Singh became the chief minister, Tandon and Mishra again joined hands to destabilise him.

Much significance is now being attached to the decision of former BJP President Rajnath Singh to undertake a tour of the State to revive the party's fortunes.

The BJP is also looking forward to the elections to 36 UP Legislative Council seats and panchayats in 2010. These elections will give the party a chance to revive its fortunes in the state, where the Congress is surging ahead by weaning away voters who were once staunch supporters of the BJP. (IPA)