Advani rewards Uma; not with open arms

Uma was removed as general secretary and suspended from the BJP after she attacked unnamed colleagues for maligning her in ‘‘off-the-record’’ briefings. Although the suspension was subsequently revoked, she was out in the cold — literally — as she trekked up to the Himalayas for spiritual inspiration and then camped at Amarkantak for several weeks.

But a more conciliatory Uma is believed to have repeatedly requested Advani to give her ‘‘work’’, even without the trappings of a ‘‘post’’.

Advani’s decision, however, was given widely different interpretations within party circles today. Uma’s detractors feel Advani has shown he is ‘‘not indulgent anymore’’, which is why he accepted her request for work but refused to rehabilitate her fully. ‘‘Uma Bharati was a key leader of the BJP and a former chief minister of its biggest state. But now she has been made only a sah prabhari who will report to Arun Jaitley,’’ said a BJP functionary from the anti-Uma camp.

Uma’s supporters think today’s appointment marks the beginning of her re-establishment in the party’s scheme of things.

The decision also spells a revival of the ‘Arun Jaitley-Uma Bharati’ team that worked successfully in the run-up to the MP elections. After Uma became CM, a certain amount of friction spoiled that ‘‘team spirit’’, sources said, but a rapprochement recently took place, which could be significant in the simmering turf war among the BJP’s Generation Next.

In the last Bihar elections, Pramod Mahajan was sent to the state, but he and Jaitley did not make as effective a team. ‘‘Pramod and Arun are unnatural allies, but Uma and Arun are natural allies,’’ a BJP insider said. ‘‘Arun Jaitley is a strategist and Uma Bharati is a mass leader. Arun is urbane upper class and Uma is a rustic OBC. Together, they can emerge as a formidable team.’’

Much will depend on how this translates on the ground, sources said. Despite being billed as the BJP’s ‘‘OBC answer’’ to Laloo Prasad Yadav, Uma did not play much of a role in the February elections. But this time, her supporters hope she will be given more responsibility and visibility in the campaign.

But sources said Uma is still on ‘‘probation’’. If she sticks to her promise of ‘‘mature’’ behaviour, she could be rewarded with the general secretary’s post after a couple of months. If she does not, virulent critics such as Venkaiah Naidu are likely to turf her out again, party insiders said.