Lucknow, Feb. 5: Kalyan Singh is back in the BJP, and with him the Ram temple may return to the political centrestage.

“The issue still stirs the people. On the ground, it just cannot be wished away till the Ram temple is built in Ayodhya. It is known to everyone that nothing but a Ram temple would be built there,” said a jubilant Kalyan, who was accorded a rose-shower reception on his first visit here since his “homecoming”.

He will accompany Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee on his visit to Ayodhya on February 7.

The old political mix of Ram and his Lodh caste appeared to be on the BJP leader’s mind when he vowed to secure 58 seats for his party from Uttar Pradesh in the general elections.

“When I met Atalji and Advaniji, I promised them 50 seats. But as I crossed some parts of this state while coming in a train from Delhi to Lucknow, I thought this time my party would get 58 seats,” Kalyan said.

The dream number for the BJP was its tally in 1998 — of the 84 seats in united Uttar Pradesh — when Kalyan was still with the party. It had suffered a jolt in 1999 when the tally whittled to 29. It is believed that at least nine seats from western Uttar Pradesh were lost to the Kalyan factor. Once out of the BJP, he had tilted towards Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Kalyan, who took the Shatabdi Express that winds through his terrain to get a first-hand feel of his supporters, said the feel-good buzzword in Delhi — that he is here to advocate — would make people feel better in the coming days. “I am feeling, emotionally, the best,” he added.

Hundreds of men and women waited in Aligarh, Ghaziabad and Kanpur to garland Kalyan, a fact that appeared to reassure him of his decision to rejoin the BJP. “I am like the member of a family who got separated for some years only to return to the worried parents,” he said.

“I have noticed in their (the crowd’s) faces a yearning for more stability and governance. This enthusiasm among men and women would turn into a swing in favour of the BJP,” he said after arriving here at 1 pm.

In a nod to the apparent discomfort of senior state BJP leaders on his return, Kalyan said: “They are the most respected and dedicated leaders. I happen to be just a small soldier.”