Date:01/11/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/11/01/stories/2004110104611100.htm

National

Advani bid to end Uma Bharti row

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, OCT. 31. The Bharatiya Janata Party president, L.K. Advani, today tried to put the lid on the Uma Bharti controversy, saying she was "on leave" and had therefore refused to be part of the team of office-bearers in the capacity of general secretary.

Mr. Advani was reported to have said this in Ujjain at a function of the Akhil Bharatiya Sindhu Sabha. Party leaders here confirmed this statement.

Well-placed sources in the party pointed out that Ms. Bharti's conduct had not gone down too well with the leadership. It was pointed out that over the years Ms. Bharti had indulged in tirades against another former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Sunderlal Patwa, and the former party president, Kushabhau Thakre. She had also "revolted" against the former Human Resource Development Minister, Murli Manohar Joshi, when she was first taken into the Vajpayee Government as Mr. Joshi's Minister of State. She had then demanded and been given independent charge and later Cabinet status. Even during her stint as Minister she had threatened to resign more than once.

Defiant stance

More recently Ms. Bharti crossed the lakshman rekha when she engaged in a verbal duel with then party chief, Venkaiah Naidu. And since yesterday, when her name did not figure in the list of the party's office-bearers, her supporters and advisers have been telling the media that the general secretary, Pramod Mahajan, should not be in the team as he had not given adequate importance to her tiranga yatra.

These reports are seen by the party as defiance of Mr. Advani.

"The real reason for her anger is that she wanted a position which would allow her to dominate the Madhya Pradesh scene," a senior leader said. "The party leadership does not want her interfering in Madhya Pradesh and will not put her in charge of the State," he added.