Lucknow: In a bid to lean on Kalyan Singh’s legacy ahead of the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, the Yogi Adityanath government has announced a plan to name a road leading to the Ram Temple complex in Ayodhya after the senior BJP leader and former UP chief minister who died Saturday.
Besides Ayodhya, one road each in Lucknow, Prayagraj, Bulandshahr and Aligarh will also be named ‘Kalyan Singh Marg’, the UP government said in a statement Monday.
Singh was among the tallest other backward class (OBC) leaders who helped the BJP breach the Hindi heartland in the 1990s. It was under his watch that the Babri Mosque was demolished by a mob of ‘karsevaks’ (volunteers) on 6 December 1992.
On Monday, UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said: “Babu ji (Kalyan Singh) was born in Aligarh so a road will be built there. He worked in Etah and Bulandshahr. Both were his ‘Karmabhoomi’ so a road will be built there too. He lived in Lucknow when he was a chief minister and once he was arrested in Prayagraj when he was going to Chitrakoot during ‘Mandir Andolan’ (Ram temple movement). This is our tribute to him.”
Maurya added: “His contribution for Ram Temple construction can never be forgotten.”
Speaking to ThePrint on condition of anonymity, a UP BJP functionary said the party is also planning to host a series of memorial events in his honour over the next few days.
“The party will recall the contribution of Kalyan Singh for Ram Mandir movement and also his contribution for the welfare of OBCs in the state. We may plan several memorial ceremonies to remember him in several districts. He was a mascot of Hindutva and role model for many of us,” said the functionary.
Also read: Hindutva icon, tallest non-Yadav OBC leader — How Kalyan Singh helped BJP breach UP
BJP to showcase him as Hindutva and OBC ‘icon’
Sources in the BJP said the party has planned to showcase him as a Hindutva as well as OBC “icon” in the state that will go to polls early next year. Kalyan Singh belonged to the Lodh community, which comprises at least 7 per cent of the state population and has dominance in several districts of western UP.
In a media statement in Aligarh, Union Home Minister Amit Shah Monday mentioned that the “poor and backwards have lost their well-wisher”.
“Babu ji’s passing away is a big loss for BJP. The void he has left will be difficult to fill. After the Ram Mandir foundation stone-laying function, he had said that the aim of his life had been fulfilled. For Ram Janmabhoomi Andolan, he quit as CM without a second thought,” Shah said.
Babuji's passing away is a big loss for BJP. The void he has left will be difficult to fill. After Ram Mandir foundation stone-laying function he had said that the aim of his life has been fulfilled. For Ram Janmabhoomi Andolan,he quit as CM without a second thought: HM Amit Shah pic.twitter.com/MgtSFfywVA
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) August 23, 2021
During the course of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, when the Vishva Hindu Parishad and the BJP had announced the ‘kar sewa’ for Ram Temple, concerns for the safety of the mosque were raised. At the time, Singh had given an affidavit in the Supreme Court promising to ensure that no damage would be done to the structure.
However, the mosque was brought down on 6 December 1992. He resigned the same day and the state was placed under President’s rule.
Earlier Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also visited Singh’s Lucknow residence where he said that the only way to immortalise the ex-CM was to work with his ideals and fulfil his dreams.
“We have lost a capable leader. We should make maximum efforts by taking his values and resolutions to compensate for him… we should leave no stone unturned in fulfilling his dreams,” said the PM.
#WATCH | Lucknow: PM Narendra Modi speaks on the demise of former UP CM Kalyan Singh. He says, "We have lost a capable leader. We should make maximum efforts by taking his values & resolutions to compensate for him; we should leave no stone unturned in fulfilling his dreams…." pic.twitter.com/I61qz8H0Yx
— ANI (@ANI) August 22, 2021
A source in CM Yogi Adityanath’s Office told ThePrint that several announcements in Singh’s name are also on the cards. As of now, the CM and several other ministers are in Aligarh to pay their last respects to the former CM. Upon return, a meeting will be held on the plans.
Also read: Row erupts as BJP flag is placed on top of Tricolour at Kalyan Singh’s tribute meet
Kalyan Singh’s importance for BJP ahead of 2022 polls
The two-time chief minister had his own significance in UP BJP’s politics.
According to Kaviraj, a political science professor at Lucknow University who goes by one name, Lodhs in OBCs have an important role to play in the politics of Rohilkhand zone (Bareilly, Badaun, Rampur, etc.) and Braj region (Agra, Aligarh, Etah, Hathras, etc.). The community forms over 15 per cent in several assembly constituencies in these areas.
Presently, the BJP is focussing on OBCs, especially non-Yadav OBCs, to counter the narrative of its principal opposition party, Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh, said Kaviraj.
“Kalyan Singh was our first prominent OBC leader. He was a non-Yadav OBC who had immense connection not only among Lodhs but also with several other OBCs,” Rajendra Tiwari, a UP BJP leader and a former close aide of Singh said.
“Kumhars, Kashyaps, Kurmis, Mauryas, Telis, Sainis, Sahus and other OBCs consider him as the tallest OBC leader. He had a hold on at least 20 per cent of the state’s population. When these 20 per cent, along with almost 15 per cent of the upper caste, voted, the BJP came to the power twice in the 1990s. We should recall his contribution for our party and (Ram) mandir andolan again and again.”
However, I.P. Singh, former state BJP minister who is now a SP leader, attacked the BJP on its alleged opportunism. “Kalyan was the tallest OBC leader but he was continuously humiliated and neglected by the top BJP leadership, we all know that. He was not even invited to the Ram Janmabhoomi pujan (stone-laying event) that happened last year,” he said.
“If BJP has so much attachment with OBCs, why have they not given a cabinet berth to his son Rajveer who is currently an MP from Etah?”
BJP targets opposition
The BJP also raised the issue that no opposition leader, especially SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and his father Mulayam, and Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra turned up at Kalyan Singh’s residence to pay tributes.
“The whole country is watching that the opposition didn’t pay tribute to Kalyan ji. This shows their petty politics. They don’t even believe in ‘Rajneetik Shishtachar’,” Deputy CM Keshav Maurya said.
“The Samajwadi family (Yadav family) and the Gandhi family did not come to pay last tributes,” UP BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi said.
“We have seen the tussle among the family members of Yadav family before 2017 polls so those who can’t respect their own family members, how will they respect others, especially if someone belongs to OBCs. They only consider themselves as OBC leaders.”
(Edited by Amit Upadhyaya)
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