 |
|
Fissures in BJP over repatriation of Uma Bharti New Delhi, November 13 Talking informally to newspersons at his Iftar party where BJP President L.K. Advani and senior leader Murli Manohar Joshi were the notable absentees, Mr Vajpayee hinted that efforts were on to repatriate Ms Uma Bharti. When asked about the conversation that he had with Ms Bharti on Thursday evening before she left for her sojourn in Himalayas, Mr Vajpayee said, "Samjhne aur samjhane ka kam chalta rahta hai (process of understanding and making others understand is a continuous process)". To a rather blunt query of "what were the chances of her return", Mr Vajpayee said, "Ummid par duniya kayam hai (World rests on hope)". Commenting on Ms Bharti emotional outpouring on Thursday at a press conference where the maverick leader rued that a 'daughter' had been evicted from home on the auspicious day of Dhanteras, the former Prime Minister said, "she walked out of the office not home. She left during a meeting on her own and she was not thrown out." Interestingly, though Ms Bharti expulsion from the party was announced on Wednesday yet no show-cause has been served on her till date. Sources revealed that Mr Advani, who had been authorised by the office-bearers to take the disciplinary action against Ms Bharti, has kept the decision in abeyance. The sources said Ms Bharti response would be sought before the disciplinary committee considers the matter. It is apparent the party is biding time. The party is still weighing the pros and cons of revoking her expulsion order, the sources said confirming the possibility of her return after her Himalayan sojourn is over.The Sangh Parivar is mounting pressure on the BJP leadership to revoke Uma's expulsion and diffuse the mushrooming crisis in the organisation. The BJP leaders too were candid in admitting that there was a lot of pressure to take back Ms Bharti. Thee BJP is obviously divided over the issue with senior leaders wanting her return and many second-generation leaders opposed to it. The divide was starkly evident today at Mr Vajpayee's Iftar party with neither Mr Advani nor Mr Murli Manohar Joshi attending it. The party had been organised for Mr Vajpayee by former Textile Minister Syed Shahnawaz Hussian. BJP Vice-President Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi too chose to remain absent. Many of the BJP office- bearers like General Secretaries Pramod Mahajan, Rajnath Singh, Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Ananth Kumar, Sanjay Joshi were the other notable absentees. Ms Bharti has enough detractors among the second-rung leadership in the party who are baying for her blood. "Discussions are already on Ms Bharti's outburst pointing an accusing finger at others in the BJP. Let us see how things shape up....," observed a senior BJP leader. "At the same time the BJP leadership wants a message to be sent down the line that growing indiscipline will not be tolerated. The office-bearers meeting before TV cameras has done enough damage to the party," the leader asserted. He regretted that even after Ms Bharti was suspended from the BJP, she wrote a letter to Mr Advani laced with continuing defiance and indignation and appearing to be unapologetic. Mr Katiyar, who was removed as President of the party in Uttar Pradesh after the May-June general elections, has accused the leadership of playing caste politics and ignoring those who participated in the Ayodhya temple movement that catapulted the BJP to the national prominence.  |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
