Refusing to provide Uma Bharati an escape route out of the controversy created by her letter attacking RSS joint general secretary Suresh Soni and BJP leaders Venkaiah Naidu and Sanjay Joshi, the RSS today formally declared that excerpts of the letter that had appeared in the media ‘‘were same as those sent to the sarsanghchalak.’’Uma Bharati’s letter to the RSS chief, excerpts of which appeared first in The Indian Express, had sharply criticised Suresh Soni for ‘‘interfering’’ in BJP affairs in Madhya Pradesh and accused him of using Venkaiah Naidu and Sanjay Joshi as tools in his anti-Uma ‘‘operation.’’Shaken by the hostile reaction of the RSS leadership to her letter, Bharati today told reporters in Jabalpur that her actual letter to K.S. Sudarshan (copies of which were sent to RSS general secretary Mohan Bhagwat and BJP chief L.K.Advani as well) was ‘‘different’’ from the one being discussed in the media.She had written the letter ‘‘in the interest of ideology’’ and had not used bad language against anyone, Bharati said. Sangh spokesman Ram Madhav today clarified to reporters that ‘‘the excerpts that have found place in certain sections of the media were the same as those sent to the sarsanghchalak.’’ Bharati, sources said, was keen to dispel the impression that she was joining L.K.Advani in attacking the RSS for interfering in BJP affairs. Her aim was only to bring the role of Suresh Soni into focus and point out that though the RSS was expected to play the role of a ‘neutral’ umpire, Soni was prejudiced against her and backing her rival Shivraj Singh Chauhan for the post of Madhya Pradesh CM.Bharati, sources said, was given to understand that she would be made CM after the Bihar polls and had secured the support of Advani and other leaders. On October 8, she was told of the Sangh’s opposition to her return when she wrote to Sudarshan.
