Uma Bharti tries to barrel back into MP politics, but in BJP her space has shrunk

But senior BJP leaders pointed out that her “mission” might be a difficult one as Bharti had “already conceded the space she had created to others”. A senior functionary familiar with the party’s functioning in the state said, “As a senior leader and former chief minister, she commands respect in the party. It is true that the state government has agreed to her demand to make changes in the liquor policy — for which there are other reasons too — but Uma Bharti cannot stretch it too much, because the space for her is very limited.”

Bharti, known as a firebrand Hindutva leader who played a key role in the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, was one of the most prominent Other Backward Class (OBC) leaders of the BJP. Belonging to the Lodhi community, she, like former Uttar Pradesh CM Kalyan Singh, helped the BJP consolidate OBC support. Bharti wielded tremendous influence in the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh and was one of the few leaders who won elections from both the states. The community is spread across Madhya Pradesh and has a significant presence in Gwalior and some parts of the Mahakoshal area also.

“She has stature as a BJP leader … But today the BJP has a number of leaders from the same community,” said a party leader from Madhya Pradesh. While Prahlad Singh Patel is a minister in the Central government, Kalyan Singh’s son Rajveer Singh is an MP.

“The party leadership does not want to upset her, but Uma ji herself knows how much she can stretch it. It’s confident handling (the decision on making changes in the liquor policy), not because the government fears the repercussions of her campaign. The Madhya Pradesh unit of the BJP is in no mood for trouble, but it will not yield too much to her (Bharti),” said a BJP office-bearer.

Sources in the BJP said Bharti expected the party leadership to call her back after she announced her retirement from politics. But the leadership accepted her decision and allowed her to carry on with her campaign for the construction of the Ayodhya Ram Temple and cleanliness of the Ganga. Bharati has been giving hints that she wants a comeback to electoral politics and to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. With no signs from the BJP to give her responsibilities, Bharti went back to Madhya Pradesh to make her presence felt in state politics. In March 2022, Bharti hurled a stone at a liquor shop in Bhopal, drawing attention to her demand for a ban on the sale of alcohol in the state.

Earlier this year, she stunned BJP leaders when she told her Lodh community that it was not bound to vote for the BJP and should vote keeping all considerations in mind. In a video that was widely circulated, Bharti was heard saying, “I have never said you are Lodhi so you vote for BJP. I ask everyone to vote for the BJP because I am a loyal soldier of my party. But I would not expect from you that you be a loyal soldier of the party. You have to see your interests …You are free from any political bond.”

Bharti spearheaded the BJP’s campaign in 2003 against the then Digvijaya Singh-led government and became chief minister. But she had to resign after just eight months as a non-bailable arrest warrant was issued against her in connection with the 1994 Hubli riots case. Later, she was suspended from the BJP following a public spat with L K Advani in front of the media at the party headquarters.

Bharti was never a “disciplined” BJP leader, according to party leaders, and never hid her desire to return to Bhopal as chief minister, replacing Chouhan who took over from her immediate successor Babulal Gaur in November 2005. That year, she was expelled from the party for persistent indiscipline and anti-party activities.

After five years in the political wilderness, during which she floated her own party — the Bharatiya Janshakti Party — Bharti was inducted back into the BJP in 2010. In the first Modi government Cabinet, she was appointed the minister for water resources, river development, and Ganga rejuvenation.