The Hindu : National : Uma Bharti supports Keshubhai’s candidature

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Friday, Nov 02, 2007
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Uma Bharti supports Keshubhai’s candidature

Special Correspondent

AHMEDABAD: The former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Uma Bharti, has advocated a “Hindutva-oriented third front” to defeat Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi of the BJP, while denying the Congress the advantage of capitalising on the “anti-Modi sentiments.”

She threw her weight behind the former Chief Minister and BJP leader, Keshubhai Patel. He described him as the “Vikas Purush” (person for development), and invited him to take over the leadership of the proposed third front.

At the same time, she said that if the BJP declared Mr. Patel as its leader, the proposal to form the third front would be shelved and her Bharatiya Janashakti Party would support the BJP.

Soon after the media conference, Ms. Bharti called on Mr. Patel at his Gandhinagar residence and requested him to accept the leadership of the third front.

However, his response to the proposal was not immediately known.

Claiming that she was invited to visit Gujarat by a large number of RSS and BJP workers who were opposed to Mr. Modi’s “sham Hindutva” but did not want the Congress to gain grounds in the State, Ms. Bharti said her party would join the electoral front in a big way but so far, it had not decided on the number of seats it would contest.

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