Wednesday, September 27 2006 13:05 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is desperate to block the possible defection of George Fernandes, the sulking convener of India's main opposition alliance, to the Samajwadi Party, that too ahead of crucial assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.

BJP leaders admit it will be a major blow if Fernandes decides to quit the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) that is led by the BJP, although he has given enough hints that he might be planning to do precisely that.

The BJP's embarrassment will be compounded if Fernandes revives his erstwhile Samata Party and throws his lot with the Samajwadi Party of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulyam Singh Yadav, who is actively wooing the former defence minister partly in order to strengthen his own standing in the state.

BJP leaders admit there will be red faces all round if Fernandes links up with the Samajwadi Party, which has no love lost for BJP, after steering the NDA for so many years and after enjoying a warm rapport with former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

"Fernandes has clearly indicated that he is not averse to joining his old socialist friends even if that means joining the anti-BJP camp. That is a cause of worry for us," a senior BJP functionary admitted to sources.

"The BJP is more worried about the possibility of Fernandes joining the Samajwadi Party in view of the coming assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh," the same leader said.

BJP sources said that senior party leaders were making desperate attempts to convince Fernandes to stay put in the NDA. Until now, there have been no clear signs that the BJP is making any headway.

Fernandes' original grouse is with his own colleagues in the JD-U, including Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, whom he has started attacking on charges of not providing good governance. That itself is embarrassing to the BJP, which is a member of the Nitish Kumar-led government.

Fernandes extended his anger to the BJP once he realized that the BJP was not siding with him vis-à-vis Nitish Kumar and JD-U's new president Sharad Yadav, who dealt a humiliating defeat to Fernandes in the party elections.

BJP leaders openly say they cannot afford to antagonize Nitish Kumar and that Fernandes' problems are an internal matter of the JD-U. This is unpalatable to Fernandes, who feels let down because he had stood by the BJP at many crucial moments when others in the NDA camp became somewhat cool.

"This was an internal matter of JD-U. The BJP-JD-U relationship is already rocky. We can't afford to create more problems by interfering in JD-U's internal affairs," a BJP leader said.

"We cannot align with Fernandes in his feud within JD-U even if that has pushed him to explore options to join his old socialist allies."

The BJP admits that the Fernandes issue has become one of the biggest political challenges since the NDA was formed about eight years ago. Fernandes, his aides say, feels doubly at loss. All the years when he was NDA convener, many of his socialist friends used to taunt him saying he had turned "saffron" by aligning too closely with the BJP and publicly supporting its ideology.

Fernandes' defection to the Samajwadi Party would be bad also because the BJP has already lost many of its local leaders, including legislators, to that party in Uttar Pradesh. The state will go to the polls early next year.

BJP leaders admit Fernandes has played a key role in keeping the NDA glued, often in difficult circumstances.

"Fernandes has played an important role in keeping the BJP-led NDA intact. He is also considered quite close to Vajpayee. If he joins the anti-BJP forces, it would be a major blow to NDA as well as BJP. But at present probably we can't do much," a BJP source said.