Some BJP leaders asserted that it was BSP chief Kanshi Ram who first approached the party for forming the coalition government in Uttar Pradesh.
There was no cause for the BJP to take the first initiative after having clarified before the Punjab Assembly elections that it was willing to form a coalition with the BSP, a party general secretary said.
The BSPs debacle in the Punjab elections forced a rethinking on Ram. When he realised the political benefits of coming with the BJP, he came to us.
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To hammer out the compromise formula, Kanshi Ram had a dinner meeting with former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and party President LK Advani at Vajpayees residence on Tuesday. The blueprint of the arrangement, like chief ministership on rotational basis and equal partnership in the government, were formalised at this meeting.
The idea of a BJP speaker was suggested by the partys five general secretaries, who met Advani yesterday to discuss the issue in detail. Party vice-presidents SS Bhandari and Jana Krishnamurthy and former BJP president Murli Manohar Joshi were also present. It was agreed that as the office of the speaker plays a crucial role in the Assembly, the BJP should get clarifications from Kanshi Ram although the BJP had the right to this office by virtue of being the largest party. At a luncheon meeting with Vajpayee yesterday, Ram also committed the Speakers post to the BJP. The BJPs parliamentary board met twice, once in the morning to consider the decision and in the evening to finalise it.