04-13-2006, 06:46 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> Pioneer.com
 <b>Katiyar to give Sonia run for her money? </b>
 Raj Bahadur Singh
LucknowÂ
BHARATIYA JANATA Party general secretary Vinay Katiyar, who has been in the forefront of the Ram Janambhoomi movement, could be the party's candidate against Congress president Sonia Gandhi in the Rae Bareli byelection.
Mr Katiyar was given a hint about the party's decision while he was in Bhubaneshwar, but he is giving it a thought and may take the plunge only after a meeting with national vice-president and incharge of Uttar Pradesh, Mr Kalyan Singh, who had approached him.
Under police custody at Kannauj, on way to strifehit Aligarh, Mr Katiyar confirmed the party suggestion at Bhubaneshwar. "But the matter has not been formally discussed yet. I can not comment more than this at the momet," he said.
Well-placed sources in the BJP claimed that Mr Kalyan Singh was coaxing Mr Katiyar to take on Ms Sonia Gandhi, but the recently elected Rajya Sabha member seemed a bit reluctant.
However, the former Chief Minister has his own calculations to make Mr Katiyar a candidate against Ms Gandhi. Although the Rae Bareli byelection may be a lost battle for any nonCongress outfit, the BJP wants to cash in on the fact that its candidate emerged as the main challenger to the Congress chief in her pocket borough. And Mr Singh finds Mr Katiyar tailor made for the task.
................
Mr Kalyan Singh's formula is simple but it will be interesting to see whether Mr Katiyar will be given the same responsibility which was assigned to Ms Sushma Swaraj in Bellary in the 1999 poll against Ms Gandhi.
Though Ms Swaraj did her part brilliantly as she lost only by a margin of 17,000 votes, but the expectations from Mr Katiyar are not that high. "Everyone knows that Ms Gandhi will win but it is our duty to ensure that the difference is as minimal as possible," said a BJP leader.
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 <b>Katiyar to give Sonia run for her money? </b>
 Raj Bahadur Singh
LucknowÂ
BHARATIYA JANATA Party general secretary Vinay Katiyar, who has been in the forefront of the Ram Janambhoomi movement, could be the party's candidate against Congress president Sonia Gandhi in the Rae Bareli byelection.
Mr Katiyar was given a hint about the party's decision while he was in Bhubaneshwar, but he is giving it a thought and may take the plunge only after a meeting with national vice-president and incharge of Uttar Pradesh, Mr Kalyan Singh, who had approached him.
Under police custody at Kannauj, on way to strifehit Aligarh, Mr Katiyar confirmed the party suggestion at Bhubaneshwar. "But the matter has not been formally discussed yet. I can not comment more than this at the momet," he said.
Well-placed sources in the BJP claimed that Mr Kalyan Singh was coaxing Mr Katiyar to take on Ms Sonia Gandhi, but the recently elected Rajya Sabha member seemed a bit reluctant.
However, the former Chief Minister has his own calculations to make Mr Katiyar a candidate against Ms Gandhi. Although the Rae Bareli byelection may be a lost battle for any nonCongress outfit, the BJP wants to cash in on the fact that its candidate emerged as the main challenger to the Congress chief in her pocket borough. And Mr Singh finds Mr Katiyar tailor made for the task.
................
Mr Kalyan Singh's formula is simple but it will be interesting to see whether Mr Katiyar will be given the same responsibility which was assigned to Ms Sushma Swaraj in Bellary in the 1999 poll against Ms Gandhi.
Though Ms Swaraj did her part brilliantly as she lost only by a margin of 17,000 votes, but the expectations from Mr Katiyar are not that high. "Everyone knows that Ms Gandhi will win but it is our duty to ensure that the difference is as minimal as possible," said a BJP leader.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd--> <!--emo&
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->