BANGALORE/BHOPAL, 7 September 2004 — Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Uma Bharati was set free yesterday from a makeshift jail hours after a Karnataka court dropped the charges of rioting and attempt to murder slapped against her in 1994.
Hundreds of BJP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) activists greeted the fiery, saffron-robed politician with full-throated slogans as she emerged from the prison at Dharwad and then made her way to Hubli, 25 km away.
She was sent to jail Aug 25 for 14 days after she surrendered before a magistrate’s court in Hubli that had issued non-bailable arrest warrants against the BJP veteran in connection with the cases. She refused to take bail.
The development led her to resign as the Madhya Pradesh chief minister, fuelling tensions between the BJP and the Congress party.
Bharati was then interned at the guesthouse of the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS) campus at Dharwad, but it soon became clear that the Karnataka government was ready to drop the charges against her.
The 43-year-old firebrand looked cheerful and greeted her supporters outside the campus gates before making her way to Hubli for a “vijay yatra” (victory procession).
Many presented her garlands and she lustily waved an Indian flag.
It was her decision to forcibly hoist the tricolor on the controversial site of the Idgah ground at Hubli in August 1994 that sparked off rioting and police firing that left six people dead.
“She thanked the party for standing by her,” Hubli-Dharwad BJP President Datta Dorle said.
Earlier yesterday, Judicial Magistrate Mohammed Ismail allowed the government to withdraw the two remaining criminal cases against Bharati, setting the stage for her release. The magistrate also rejected the five public interest litigations filed by social activists from Hubli and Bangalore objecting the government application to withdraw the cases.
Within minutes of the court order, hundreds of BJP supporters started celebrating Bharti’s impending freedom. They shouted slogans hailing Bharati and vowed to hoist the Indian flag at the disputed Idgah ground in the heart of Hubli. Some of the slogans were: “Uma Bharati aage bado, hum tumare saath hai!” “Laathi, goli khayange, lekin tiranga firayange!”
Braving heavy downpour in the commercial hub of north Karnataka, party workers and leaders, including BJP legislator Jagdish Shettar and Member of Parliament Prahlad Joshi, took out victory processions.
Meanwhile, the police have beefed up security in the twin cities of Hubli and Dharwad.
The BJP had earlier announced that Bharati would take out a “tiranga yatra” (tricolor campaign) from Hubli to the Jalianwalla Bagh ground in Amritsar city — to highlight the importance of the national flag.
Loyalists Demand Bharati’s Reinstatement
The release of Bharati led to celebrations in several parts of Madhya Pradesh as well as demands from her loyalists that she be reinstated as soon as possible.
While Chief Minister Babulal Gaur emphasized yesterday that he would continue in office, Minister of State for Animal Husbandry Sunil Nayak told reporters that Bharati should take charge of the state now that she had been released.
“Of course, Uma Bharati will campaign for the BJP for the coming assembly elections in Maharashtra. But once the assembly elections are over, we will urge the central leadership of the party to reinstate her as chief minister of Madhya Pradesh,” said Nayak.
“Uma Bharati was responsible for the BJP’s stupendous success in the assembly elections last year, so she should be again made chief minister,” said another minister. “Her loyalists are keeping mum fearing action by the party. But there will be no holding them back when she comes to Bhopal,” he said.
News of her release came as Gaur was chairing his first Cabinet meeting. The meeting was just about to begin when a senior bureaucrat informed Gaur that a court in Hubli had ordered her release. Sources said Gaur told his Cabinet colleagues of the news and they started clapping in jubilation. The chief minister then asked them to stand up and applaud the decision.
