The Hindu : Front Page : Uma Bharti's suspension revoked

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Saturday, Dec 25, 2004

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Front Page

Uma Bharti's suspension revoked

By Neena Vyas

NEW DELHI, DEC. 24. The former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Uma Bharti's suspension from the Bharatiya Janata Party has been revoked by the party president, L.K. Advani, but she may not immediately get the position of general secretary, a post to which she was appointed days before she was suspended.

A terse statement was made today by the former party president, Venkaiah Naidu: "L.K. Advani has revoked the suspension of Uma Bharti." He said she would not automatically get the post , but later added: "I do not know, I cannot know [when she will be given that position By Mr. Advani]."

However, party leaders are certain that sooner rather than later, perhaps after the Assembly elections due in February next year, Ms. Bharti will be taken back as general secretary. For the moment, the party plans to ask her to campaign extensively in Bihar.

Partysources indicated that Ms. Bharti wanted to bring the former general secretary, K.N. Govindacharya, back into the party, although this may not happen in the near future. However, Mr. Govindacharya, told The Hindu , that he had no intention of staging a comeback or asking the party to admit him. He indicated that the party was perhaps "irreparable" and that politics in general had become a profession in which money and power counted. "I have taken a different road ... my study is doing well ... there should be no reason for confusion." Three days ago, Ms. Bharti lashed out at the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Babulal Gaur, (he replaced her after she resigned following her arrest in the Hubli case), and said that "he did not have the support of a single MLA" when she made him Chief Minister. Mr. Venkaiah Naidu was asked whether that was not indiscipline, but he said he was not aware of the statement. "Mr. Gaur has the support of all MLAs," he emphasised.

Ms. Bharti was suspended on November 10 after she openly challenged Mr. Advani at a meeting of the party office-bearers. She alleged that senior leaders had planted stories against her in the media and that she was forced to counter them. When Mr. Advani asked her to sit down and said the "matter is closed," she refused to oblige and walked out challenging him to take action against her. Within minutes, she was suspended from the party.

This entire episode of Ms. Bharti's defiance was televised as, contrary to the normal practice, Mr. Advani had kept the meeting open to television and the press.

Even as she got the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh to bring pressure on Mr. Advani to roll back the suspension order, Ms. Bharti's defiance continued in the form of letters she wrote to him. She openly criticised and made allegations against senior leaders such as Arun Jaitley, Pramod Mahajan, Sushma Swaraj and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi even while saying that a "daughter had been thrown out" on the auspicious day of Dhanteras (just before Deepavali).

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