Cong fumes over Karnataka unit146;s ad

The issue figured at a meeting of senior party functionaries at the Congress headquarters today, where most leaders took an exception to the advertisement.

A senior party leader told The Indian Express, 8216;8216;We have all been taken aback by this undue attention showered on Bharati by our Karnataka party leaders. She must be flattered. As if big newspaper advertisements were not bad enough, they pitted everybody, from the Father of the Nation to Rajivji, to counter one Uma Bharati.8217;8217;

Another Congress leader said the party pantheon was invoked only on big occasions. Such a reckless invocation of dead illustrious leaders is unprecedented, he said, adding that 8216;8216;ideally, state Congress president B. Janardhan Poojary could have used only his own photograph if at all he felt called upon to insert advertisements in newspapers8217;8217;.

The BJP seized upon the opportunity to take on the Congress. BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi threatened the Congress with a defamation suit over the content of the advertisement titled 8216;8216;The Truth Behind the Allegations of Heinous Offences By Kum. Uma Bharati8217;8217;.

Naqvi told The Indian Express that the points made by the Congress were factually incorrect. 8216;8216;How can they sit and judge an issue which is pending before the court?8217;8217; he said.

He added that the Congress8217; stand on the issue was ambiguous. While on the one hand, the advertisement charged Bharati with 8216;8216;heinous offences8217;8217;, on the other, its state government had decided to withdraw the cases, Naqvi said.