For Uma, bumpy lies the road to BJP

Senior BJP leader Kalyan Singh on Monday urged party leaders to give up their ego and facilitate the re-entry of fire-brand sanyasin Uma Bharati to the party.

Senior BJP leader Kalyan Singh on Monday urged party leaders to give up their ego and facilitate the re-entry of fire-brand sanyasin Uma Bharati to the party.

But it seems the ghar vapasi will not be that easy for her as a senior leader termed attempts to bring back Uma in a hurry as 8220;gate-crashing8221; while another was quoted as saying: 8220;nobody can change the pace of any decision in Sangh Parivar.8221;

Meanwhile, BJP General Secretary Arun Jaitely said the statement of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi that all Hindutva leaders should unite was a 8220;personal opinion.8221; 8220;He has made a suggestion and the party president has already stated that any decision on this can be taken only collectively in the proper bodies of the party,8221; Jaitely said.

Both Jaitely and Modi are considered opponents of Uma, but Modi surprised everyone by sounding positive about her return to party.

Uma8217;s possible return to BJP suddenly became a talking point with her guru Swami Vishweswara Teertha of Pejawar Mutt in Udupi suggesting last week that all Hindu forces should unite to win the Assembly election in Gujarat. While Rajnath Singh and Narendra Modi expressed willingness to discuss the topic, many in the party were not very excited about the idea. 8220;Who will guarantee good behaviour from her and who will argue in the party for her re-entry?8221; asked a senior leader.

Uma Bharati was expelled from the party in late 2005, following repeated defiance of the leadership.

Addressing a rally in Farrukhabad in UP, Singh asked Uma, in her presence, to accept if an invitation was extended by the BJP. Singh also recalled that he too was out of the party at one time and the present situation of Uma being out of the party 8220;needs to be rectified8221;.

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Uma, who spoke before Kalyan, regretted that Kalyan Singh8217;s caste members Lodhas did not support him when he was not in the BJP. 8220;Otherwise he would have been a claimant for the Prime Minister8217;s post today,8221; she said.

In fact, Uma Bharati was quoted as saying in Vadodara on Sunday that the difference with BJP was an ideological one and that her party would contest the Gujarat Assembly election.