BJP walls up behind Uma but cracks show

At a public reception for Uma Bharati this evening, the BJP top brass attempted a show of unity but ended up subtly settling scores against ...

At a public reception for Uma Bharati this evening, the BJP top brass attempted a show of unity but ended up subtly settling scores against one another, indicating that the Uma Bharati-Venkaiah Naidu battle is very much on.

Referring to Uma Bharati8217;s desire which she went to town with at Mathura on Friday and repeated today to 8216;8216;leave politics8217;8217; and embark on a Bharat Parikrama Yatra, L.K. Advani said: 8216;8216;You are welcome to undertake the yatra8230;but you cannot give up politics.8217;8217;

If Advani8217;s remark was a subtle confirmation that the party leadership had not taken kindly to Bharati8217;s dramatic announcement, BJP president Venkaiah Naidu was far more direct.

At the outset of his long speech, Naidu said: 8216;8216;This felicitation is not for Uma Bharati; the Tiranga Yatra was not Uma Bharati8217;s yatra8230;it was not the yatra of an individual but that of an ideology.8217;8217; On the proposed Bharat Parikarama Yatra, Naidu said the proposal would be first discussed by the party 8216;8216;because an individual does not matter8217;8217;.

Dismissing media reports of infighting as 8216;8216;disinformation8217;8217;, Naidu said: 8216;8216;We do not believe in one family or in one individual. We have many leaders 8212; Arun Jaitley, Arun Shourie, Pramod Mahajan, Narendra Modi, Sushma Swaraj, Uma Bharati, Babulal Marandi, Karia Munda8230;we are developing everybody, we are encouraging all our second-rung leaders.8217;8217;

Bharati didn8217;t blame the media but said Naidu had been unfairly blamed. While the yatra had changed her life, her only regret was about Naidu 8212; whose plight she referred to as 8216;8216;havan karte haath jalana8217;8217; drawing flak while doing good. Naidu had, after all, organised the route and logistics and supported the yatra, though she was 8216;8216;merely an ex-chief minister8217;8217;, she pointed out.

Bharati8217;s apparent turnaround came after a flurry of meetings through the day to resolve the bitterness that had developed between her and the party leadership, particularly Naidu. She had two meetings with Advani and a one-on-one with Naidu 8212; in which she both explained why she had felt 8216;8216;hurt8217;8217; and apologised for 8216;8216;going too far8217;8217;, sources said.

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Meanwhile, her successor Babulal Gaur held a press conference 8212; the second in the capital after taking over as CM barely six weeks ago 8212; to scotch speculation that Bharati would take over. 8216;8216;The leadership has expressed complete support for my developmental programmes and I have been given the assurance that I will stay the full term,8217;8217; he said.

Advani, on the other hand, stressed 8216;8216;we must never forget that it was because of Uma8217;8217; that the BJP won an unprecedented three-fourth majority in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections and retained that lead in the Lok Sabha polls. Never mind that her nominee Prahlad Patel wasn8217;t even given a ticket in the bypolls this time around.