NEW DELHI: Senior BJP leaders on Saturday made light of the charge by the former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Uma Bharati, that the party did not give adequate representation to backward classes, Scheduled Castes and Dalits.

Ironically, Babulal Gaur, who initially replaced Ms. Bharti as Chief Minister, and Shivraj Singh Chauhan, who succeeded him, belonged to backward castes, the leaders pointed out. "She could not tolerate either of them. "

During her Ayodhya yatra, the suspended leader said the caste composition of the Bharatiya Janata Party's parliamentary board did not give adequate representation to the socially oppressed sections including women.

The party leaders said Ms. Bharati often played the backward caste card.

She raised the issue of a quota for backward castes within an overall quota for women, creating a hurdle to reservation for them.

Her stand was not in tune with the party's.

The leaders rejected as baseless her suggestion that the party suppressed her because of her caste.

"Kalyan Singh was Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Narendra Modi is Chief Minister of Gujarat, Sushil Modi has been made Deputy Chief Minister in Bihar. Arjun Munda, a tribal, is Chief Minister in Jharkhand. There is no dearth of examples of backward caste leaders promoted and projected by the BJP," a senior leader pointed out.

Deadline ends

Even as the party awaits Ms. Bharati's response to the show-cause notice, general secretary Arun Jaitley told reporters here on Saturday that there need not be another meeting of the parliamentary board to consider her reply. Party president L.K. Advani was fully empowered to take whatever action he thought fit on receipt of her response, the three-day deadline for which was coming to an end.

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