Uma’s party off the blocks, drawing janshakti from BJP

‘‘Kothariji, what are you doing here?,’’ he yelled. The man turned, and as if begging to be left alone, said: ‘‘Hey, don’t make a fuss, I am looking for our people to prepare the list of those who have come here.’’ As Kothari moved a little further, a check with the other man revealed that he was Virendra Kothari, in charge of media in the local BJP.

Kothari was obviously worth following. He soon came face-to-face with one from his flock, paused for a while, gave him a disdainful look and moved on. As he got busy surveying the people ahead, the man he had just left behind started grumbling to his companion: ‘‘We can go to Sonia Gandhi’s meeting – they have no problem, but we cannot come here.’’

Having had his say, he left the place, his reluctance marked by his halting steps. The man gone, his companion, agreed to divulge his name after a bit of persuasion. ‘‘He is Pramod Jain, a BJP activist. He is a perennial dissident – always courts trouble.’’

Soon, a dark stocky man was accosted by a group of three people busy comparing Bharati’s rally with L K Advani’s ‘‘flop meeting’’ at the same spot two days ago. One of them said rather loudly: ‘‘So, Agrawal Sahib, you are also here. Your people are on the job, looking for BJPwallahs.’’ Agrawal tried to smile, looked around and vanished within seconds.

Meanwhile, the business on the dais had picked up – though with less important speakers. With the backdrop featuring Bharat Mata on one side and a huge map of India dotted by photos of a battery of great men ranging from Guru Gobind Singh to Subhas Chandra Bose, Bharati was in her elements. ‘‘My flag is saffron, the colour of our mother earth, and my symbol is a rising sun, the embodiment of energy and knowledge,’’ she told them.

The lure of the BJP, her former party, was still visible. ‘‘People say, the BJP would be finished, but it won’t be,’’ she declared. ‘‘A few leaders have hijacked the BJP and abandoned the party ideology. But, I have saved its ideology like Panna the maid, shielding a young Maharana Udai Singh (against murder),’’ she explained. As if offering a pact to the BJP, she said, ‘‘the lotus (BJP symbol) and sun are inter-linked – lotus will not bloom without the sun – it will wilt.’’

Bharati supported HRD Minister Arjun Singh’s move for OBC reservations in professional courses. ‘‘The reservations should continue till sons of the prime minister and a villager study together,’’ she added. The remark drew a loud applause from the crowd.

Her new-found lieutenant Raghunandan Sharma, till recently BJP vice-president and in-charge of Ujjain area, appealed to BJP workers to resign from their party forthwith and throw their lot with them if they cared for their ideology. Local people credit him with a live contact with the rank and file and believe that he may wean away a sizeable number of them. It is not for nothing that Bharati installed him as the national general secretary of her party outside the Mahakaal temple during the day.

Dalit leader Sangh Priya Gautam will be party vice-president, while Anita Singh, a new face, the treasurer. Another unknown figure, Kamini Khare, is in charge of overseas affairs.

Bharati described former Union minister of state Prahlad Patel as ‘‘my Hanuman and my Lakshman’’, but did not appoint him to any post. She said a three-member committee would draft the party constitution and a national convention would be held later. Bharati also announced the merger of Swarn Samaj Party, a Brahmin outfit led by Laskhman Tewari, in to her party.

A cross-section of local people termed Bharati’s show as ‘‘so, so’’. The reason – an inadequate participation from surrounding areas. One, she chose a bad day, it being Akshay Tritiya, a day of marriages. The second spoiler was the extreme heat.

Anyway, the BJP leadership kept a close watch on any secret support by its MLAs known to have a soft corner for Bharati. Sources said the presence of people from the neighbouring Assembly constituency of Mahidpur could be attributed to its MLA Bahadur Singh, considered close to Bharati. But she has been apparently let down by her one-time confidantes — MLAs Shiv Nandan Jagirdar (Ujjain rural), Lakshman Singh Gaur (Indore), Dhulji Chaudhry (Ratlam).

However, there was no dearth of people who had covered long distances by trains, buses and personal vehicles for the sake of their personal affiliation to Bharati. The enthusiasm of Lodhs, Bharati’s own kinsmen, was marked.

The electoral strength of Bharati may be put to test later, but all those who have rallied round her are hardcore BJP men. The party may not show signs of worry, but it is sure to discover the damage soon.