Party launch in March, Uma uses Yatra to win friends

For starters, Bharati will announce the launch of her new party in the religious town of Chitrakoot, in Madhya Pradesh, which is strategically placed on the border of the cowbelt’s two most important states, UP and MP. She will announce the formation of her party after March, after a whirlwind tour of capitals of crucial states in the Hindi heartland, and Gujarat, Maharashtra, even Assam.

The announcement is expected at the annual Sadhu and Sant Jan Sabha, the dates for which are yet to be fixed.

As for future political alliances, Bharati is inclined to have a strategic partnership with the BSP’s Mayawati in UP. Though the sanyasin has been honoured with the status of a state guest during her Ram-Roti Yatra by Mayawati’s arch rival, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, she would prefer to woo the more backward castes (MBCs) who are out of the OBC fold, led by the Yadavs.

Says a source, ‘‘It is also quite clear the BSP is on a winning path in the run-up to the state elections scheduled for next year, and it would be more prudent to align with a possible winner rather than a potential loser. Mayawati has also been successful in wooing the upper castes like the Brahmins, and with our appeal to other castes like the Kurmis, Lodhs and Bhumihars, we could forge a formidable alliance.’’

In Maharashtra, Bharati is expected to have a tie-up with either the Shiv Sena or its breakaway group, led by Sena chief Bal Thackeray’s nephew Raj Thackeray. ‘‘It will depend on which side the BJP is on,’’ says the source. ‘‘We will naturally be on the other side.’’

Bharati also has the sympathies of an influential section of the VHP with its general secretary Giriraj Kishore always praising her for her Hindutva agenda while attacking the BJP for dumping it for power’s sake. The former Madhya Pradesh CM also has the backing of the Swadeshi Jagran Manch and is in constant touch with its president, Muralidhar Rao—apart from being welcomed by Mahanta Nitya Gopal Das, leader of the Ramjanmabhoomi Nyas, in Ayodhya.