Role Reversal

When the BJP patched up with Uma Bharati in Gujarat, it hoped for an easy playing field.

When the BJP patched up with Uma Bharati in Gujarat, it hoped for an easy playing field. As it happens, the tie-up has queered the pitch not just for the BJP but also for Bharati. The Bharatiya Janshakti Party BJS president8217;s decision to withdraw the candidates from the fray has sparked a rebellion. In open defiance, the state8217;s BJS election in-charge, Umesh Dutt Mathur, has released the second list of candidates for the second phase of elections.

8220;We are not withdrawing a single candidate,8221; said Mathur, Bharati8217;s second-in-command and Rajasthan BJS President, adding that the national BJS leaders, including party Vice-President Sanghpriya Gautam and Prahlad Patel from Madhya Pradesh, Tapan Sikdar from West Bengal, Arvind Dani from Orissa, and Pavan Valecha from Punjab would visit the state for campaigning.

Expectedly confused, BJP spokespersons Vijay Rupani and Prakash Javedekar refused to comment. 8220;We welcomed Uma Bharati8217;s decision to withdraw. That8217;s all I can say,8221; said Javedekar. The patch-up was expected to work in BJP8217;s favour by not dividing the Hindu vote, but now the party faces competition not just from its own rebels, the Congress candidates and the Independents, but also from the BJS rebels.

Meanwhile, the discontent in the BJS is palpable, with dissidents contemplating a meeting of the national executive for Bharati8217;s removal. Senior party leaders maintained that while the BJS had put up with Uma8217;s flip flops since the party8217;s formation, it had ended up damaging her own image.

8220;We have endured her whims for far too long, but this was extreme,8221; said Ratanlal Sharma, BJS Vice-President of Rajasthan. He said that the BJS would contest the elections in Gujarat and there was a possibility that Bharati would adhere to the party stance, even campaign for the candidates. 8220;We are not changing our stand and will contest the elections, with or without her,8221; added Sharma, who, along with Mathur, has been camping in Ahmedabad for the the past 15 days to coordinate election activities.

8220;She has been unpredictable, but in politics one cannot work on whims. One needs to take a stance. Her swings have jeopardised her own reliability,8221; he added.

The move to withdraw candidates has also angered Swami Avichal Das of Sarsa muth, who had earlier said her u-turn was a gimmick to appease the BJP, her parent organisation, and she had used the Hindus in Gujarat to achieve her own agenda.

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Meanwhile, the BJS Gujarat unit is busy with damage control, with Mathur8212;scheduled to leave for Rajasthan for a day on Thursday8212;staying put in Ahmedabad and other leaders trying to boost the candidates8217; morale.