New Delhi, November 29
The BJP Parliamentary Board is meeting tomorrow to pave the way for disciplinary action against rebellious Uma Bharati whose actions and words in the past couple of days have not only embarrassed the top leadership, but also lowered the prestige of the party in public eyes.
A clear indication to this effect came today when former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee disapproved of her actions at the Madhya Pradesh BJP Legislature Party meeting and asserted
that it was “height of indiscipline”.Three General Secretaries — Arun Jaitley, Pramod Mahajan and Rajnath Singh — who participated as central observers at the legislature party meeting in Bhopal where Mr Shivraj Singh Chauhan was elected leader to become the next Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, have submitted a detailed report to BJP President L.K. Advani which is going to form the basis of the disciplinary action against Ms Bharati.
Earlier, Mr Vajpayee told reporters after presiding over the weekly BJP Parliamentary Party meeting here that “all matters are under the consideration of the party. What happened was sad. Indiscipline will not be tolerated howsoever big the person is and whatever the issue may be”.
He was responding to a question on whether the party was contemplating disciplinary action against the former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister.
“Whatever happened (at the legislature party meeting venue yesterday) was the height of indiscipline. Internal competition within the party is a sign of healthy politics but when that competition transforms into lust for power and crosses all limits, it creates difficulties in future,” he said.
Apparently referring to Ms Bharati’s refusal to accept Mr Chauhan as the new Chief Minister replacing Mr Babulal Gaur, he said the party had succeeded in the last Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections with a majority. “If there is a change and sometimes change is natural and necessary, it should be accepted.”
