To regain space, Uma Bharti tries to shake things up in Madhya Pradesh BJP

The list has been doing the rounds of social media and when asked about it the former CM on Sunday said at an event in Bhopal, “I have certainly discussed all the 230 Assembly candidates of Madhya Pradesh with the leaders of the Center and the state. Therefore, there is no need for me to write a list and give it. Yes, these names have also been included in my discussion, every candidate of BJP is mine.” Last month, the party named Bharti’s nephew Pritam Singh Lodhi as its candidate from Pichhore in the coming Assembly polls.

On Sunday, 64-year-old leader Bharti also said, “I was not invited anywhere to these (Jan Ashirwad Yatras). It does not matter to me. I have formed the government here. Even in 2020, when I got corona (virus) … BJP was requesting that you come. When elections were held for 28 seats, we won 22 seats and I campaigned hard and when the Aashirwad Yatra started I was not called again because they think that now we will form the government.”

Bharti said if asked to campaign for the BJP she would seek “votes for only the BJP”. She added, “But this question definitely comes to my mind that when Jyotiraditya Scindia formed your government, I too had formed a complete government. Jyotiraditya Scindia is very dear to me. He is my nephew.” Asked why she was not invited, Bharti said, “Maybe they (the BJP leaders) are nervous that if I am there then the entire public attention will be on me.”

Later, she posted on X, “Now, even if I am invited I will not go anywhere. Neither at the beginning nor at the closing ceremony on September 25.”

The former CM’s associates said her statements were a message to those leaders uncomfortable with her return to the state. “She had left the state and during this time many leaders gained prominence and grew. She has come back and they feel uncomfortable with her since she is outspoken and is not afraid to criticise the government. She should have been invited. If Union Ministers seek her advice then they should have at least asked her to come,” said one of Bharti’s supporters.

But one leader for whom the former CM has had words of praise is her successor Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the incumbent CM. Bharti said there was an unbreakable and strong bond of respect between them. “Whenever and wherever Shivraj ji asks me to campaign for election, I can campaign by obeying and respecting him,” she added.

Bharti stepped down from the Narendra Modi government in 2018 citing health reasons and returned to Madhya Pradesh, where she spent her time on a campaign for the Ganga. Though not in the thick of things like before, Bharti who belongs to the Lodhi community is still one of the most prominent Other Backward Class (OBC) leaders in the state. She wields influence in the Bundelkhand region of the state and with OBCs making up almost half the population of Madhya Pradesh, Bharti still has an important role to play for the party in the coming state elections.

Not shy of criticising the BJP, she has often been at odds with it on multiple occasions. In March 2022, Bharti hurled a stone at a liquor shop in Bhopal to draw attention to demand a ban on the sale of alcohol in the state. She told the Lodh community in December 2022 that it was not bound to vote for the BJP and should vote with all considerations in mind. The comments came months after the BJP expelled Pritam Singh Lodhi for making comments against the Brahmin community. He then raised the heat on the party, demanding a census for OBCs and a proportionate increase in their reservation quota. Lodhi returned to the BJP this March.

Following Bharti’s latest comments, the BJP went into damage control mode. State spokesperson Narendra Saluja said, “Uma Bharti is a tall leader of the state. She is a former CM and her experience and guidance would really help the party. We will invite her to the Jan Ashirwad Yatras and seek her guidance.”

Reacting to the former CM’s statements, Congress leader Randeep Surjewala, the All India Congress Committee in-charge, said the BJP “insults its leaders”. He said, “The party sidelined former Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani, retired Murli Manohar Joshi … In our culture, even God does not forgive the one who does not respect elders.”

Bharti spearheaded the BJP’s campaign in 2003 against the then Digvijaya Singh-led government and became chief minister. But she resigned after just eight months as a non-bailable arrest warrant was issued against her in connection with the 1994 riots case in Hubballi, Karnataka. She was expelled from the BJP in 2005 following a public spat with L K Advani in front of the media at the party headquarters. She returned to the party fold six years later.