His detractors too are busy bickering among themselves over who should replace him. But go he must, they feel. ``Kalyan Singh is arrogant and inaccessible,'' says a senior BJP leader from Uttar Pradesh, who himself is a Chief Minister aspirant. He also takes care to run down Kalyan's principal adversary within the party, state BJP chief Rajnath Singh, calling him ``highly ambitious''.

Having interactedseparately with all the main players in the state unit, the BJP leadership too knows not one enjoys total support. This is probably why both Rajnath and Kalyan refrained from speaking to the media during the National Executive meeting. Pressed for a remark, Rajnath said: ``There is no question of a change of leadership in Uttar Pradesh. Kalyan Singhji is doing just fine.'' However, he parried a question on how much the party was benefiting under Kalyan. Interestingly, in response to a question on Gujarat, he philosophised: ``Change is a global phenomenon. Everyone has to go some day.''

The allies of the BJP government in the state, the Jantantrik Bahujan Samaj Party (JBSP) and Loktantrik Congress Party (LCP), are no different. Both have had a chequered relationship with the Chief Minister but both are faction-ridden. In the past one week, the JBSP has carried its disaffection with Kalyan one step further by boycotting Cabinet meetings twice.

However, the JBSP has its own different groups to reconcile. Itwas the internal strife that had allowed a rank outsider, D.P. Yadav, to emerge as the party's national president. The JBSP's founder president, Chaudhury Narendra Singh, had had no option but to accept Yadav's leadership, after initial protests, as he too did not enjoy the support of the entire party.It was because of factionalism again that nobody protested when Shiv Ganesh Lodhi, a JBSP leader, was dropped from the Cabinet without any consultation. In fact, only a few JBSP leaders like Markandey Chand and Yashwant Singh have been openly demanding Kalyan's ouster. A Kalyan loyalist says they are ``being guided solely by politics of power, unmindful of its consequences. Some of them seem to be playing into the hands of the Chief Minister's political rivals''.

Similarly, the LCP too is divided, with some of its ministers supporting Kalyan. Party chief Naresh Agrawal himself been blowing hot and cold in turns, in order to keep his bargaining position intact. Not so long ago, when another LCP member,Jagdambika Pal, had pulled the rug from under Kalyan's feet on the prodding of the Congress, SP and BSP, it was Naresh who had been a helpless spectator. His party members, at the time, were individually having talks with the Chief Minister.

But worse still remains the state BJP, where all senior leaders nurse grudges against the Chief Minister and each other. Kalyan, in fact, has been exploiting this divide, drawing the high command's attention to the disparaging remarks made by his rivals against him and each other ``to show their true colours''.

One of these rivals, a senior BJP minister who claims proximity to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, has been predicting the date of Kalyan's ouster regularly, even discussing the matter with bureaucrats. Kalyan has reportedly pointed this out to the high command, saying: ``He (the minister) wants to discredit me before the bureaucracy, a government can't be run like this. If I have to continue, such people would have to be restrained.''To make it worse forthe BJP, the party in the state is bitterly divided along caste lines. A Backward minister known for his proximity to Kalyan (himself a Backward) has reportedly pinned his hopes on the BJP replacing one Backward chief minister with another.

However, a majority of the BJP state leaders believe that after a ``long neglect'' of Brahmins, it is time for a member of the community to take over. Supporters of a Thakur BJP leader have been pleading his case with the central leadership. Scheduled Caste MLAs, meanwhile, are pitching for a member of their community. As the BJP high command weighs one against the other, name-calling is on. Not only the leaders but also their supporters spew venom against rival camps in private. Thus we have the party MP from Farrukhabad, Sachidanand Sakshi, levelling all kind of charges against Kalyan's detractors, even as Meerut MP Amar Pal Singh challenges the Chief Minister to demonstrate the support of more than seven MPs and MLAs within the party.

Most of Kalyan's rivals are nowanxiously waiting for a meeting with the party high command, as is the Chief Minister himself. The earliest this could happen is the third week of January as BJP chief Kushabhau Thakre is in Mumbai at present.

Contenders for CM's post

RAJNATH SINGH: A Rajya Sabha MP and UP BJP chief, he is remembered for introducing the Anti-Copying Law in the state as education minister in 1991-92. Credits himself with saving Kalyan's government twice: in October 1997, after Mayawati withdrew support, and during the Jagdambika Pal-led coup in February 1998.

LALJI TANDON: The Urban Development Minister, he is known for his proximity to the Prime Minister.

KESARI NATH TRIPATHI: The Chairman of the UP Vidhan Sabha, he is also an eminent lawyer and constitutional expert. Saved Kalyan's government by recognising the JBSP as a separate group.

OM PRAKASH SINGH: The Irrigation and Sugarcane Minister is a close aide of Kalyan. Leads the Backwards lobby.

SANGHPRIYA GAUTAM: The nationalgeneral secretary of the BJP, he is a Rajya Sabha MP. Leads the SCs in the state.

KALRAJ MISHRA: The PWD and Tourism Minister and former UP BJP chief, he leads the Brahmin lobby in the state.