As Uma meets Advani, BJP to own: Tell us, not others

With the supporters of the former chief minister Babulal Marandi expressing their resentment to the appointment of Yadunath Pandey as the state BJP president, party chief LK Advani was obviously disturbed over the growing factionalism and its public expressions.

Advani himself did not address the meeting but he did interact with the participants.

It was spokesman Prakash Javdekar, who told reporters that ‘‘we have urged functionaries to use caution in these days of the electronic media’’. No, the party did not want an iron curtain. But neither did it want to be embarrassed, he said.

Though today’s meeting had been scheduled sometime ago, it was more than a coincidence that it happened as the party had taken a hit from its pro-RSS veteran and former Gujarat governor, Sunder Singh Bhandari.

Before that, it was Uma Bharati who had aired her grievances. And even Pramod Mahajan had gone public regretting the mishandling of the Gujarat violence.

But there was one political development which appeared to be moving in a positive direction for Advani.

The maverick Uma Bharati arrived in the Capital today looking — in her own words — ‘‘not for a post’’ but ‘‘some party job’’.

Bharati arrived soon after the appointment of Shivraj Chauhan as the Madhya Pradesh party state president. Chauhan was never known to be close to her.

As she alighted from the train today after her 39-day stay in Amarkantak forest, Bharati was the picture of a ‘‘disciplined’’ activist. She refrained from any criticism and even said that Chauhan’s appointment was done after consulting her.

With Arun Jaitley’s recent announcement that Advani had prepared a special strategy for Bharati, her meeting with the party chief tonight can turn out to be critical.

But for a leadership that has found it difficult to deal with Bharati’s volatility, her rehabilitation is not going to be easy.

She cannot be sent back to Madhya Pradesh where her influential presence and her inability to resist temptations of meddling in the affairs of Babulal Gaur has posed more problems for the party. Chauhan’s appointment is signal enough that the party wants her out of Bhopal.

It was obvious that she was hoping to get back her general secretary’s post. But it was also obvious that the party would find it difficult to accommodate her immediately.

Bharati herself evaded questions on whether a deal has been worked out and she would be back as a general secretary. All she would tell is that this was more like a ‘‘parent-daughter meeting’’.

This evening’s meeting continued for long and by the time it ended, it did not appear that a final solution was in sight. But it appeared a step in a direction which could finally lead to some form of compromise. For Bharati seems to have promised not to be proactive in Madhya Pradesh politics.

Bharati’s rehabilitation has been postponed for long because her relations with most BJP senior leaders have deteriorated recently. Plus, her presence might prove to be a liability in most states where the BJP has a mass base.

But the BJP will have to decide on her future fast, for a temperamental Bharati may find it difficult to be an obedient worker for long.

Meanwhile, Jharkhand is becoming a bigger headache for the BJP. In the evening, another senior BJP leader from the state, Karia Munda, came out in support of Marandi.

It was obvious that not many in the Jharkhand BJP unit were very happy with the manner in which Rajnath Singh, the leader in charge of the state, had dealt with the political developments in Ranchi.