BHOPAL, 6 December 2005 — The rightist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the receiving end of stormy petrel Uma Bharati, the former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, has struck a political death blow this time as it expelled her from the party. The BJP Central Parliamentary Board met in New Delhi yesterday evening to expel the firebrand leader for her public outbursts against the party.
It is just coincidence that on the eve of the 13th anniversary of the demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, Uma has suffered this ignominy. She was in the vanguard, egging the “kar sewaks”, the saffron brigade zealots, with her infamous ‘Ek Dhakka Aur Do, Babri Masjid Tod Do’ (Give another push and demolish Babri Mosque) calls to pull down the 500 years old structure on that fateful day of Dec. 6, 1992. However, she denies this.
Now, 13 years later she has been pushed out of the BJP to clip her wings and demolish her politically and thereby draw the curtains on her tumultuous political career in the party spanning 25 years.
However, Uma, who is on her “Ram-Roti Padyatra” (foot march) and is presently in Raisen, a small town about 45 km away from Bhopal, is not ready to lie low as she soon reacted sharply to her expulsion.
Uma has demanded ‘’disciplinary action’’ against BJP President L.K. Advani. She said that she would file a petition today before the BJP disciplinary committee against her expulsion.
Launching a scathing assault against Advani, she said, ‘’He is liable to disciplinary action for his remarks in favor of (Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali) Jinnah. Advani has hurt the feelings of people and party workers alike as well as lowered the nation’s dignity.’’ She said that she would chalk out her course of action only after receiving a reply from disciplinary committee chairman Ram Naik.
‘’Till then, my Ram-Roti Padyatra will continue as it is an apolitical venture,’’ she added. ‘’I do not accept the parliamentary board’s decision and do not consider myself to be out of the BJP because I am the BJP and several hundred of thousands party workers are alongside me,’’ she further added.
Uma said that she would raise three questions in her petition. ‘’Is the BJP president above party discipline?’’ she asked while accusing Advani of indiscipline by describing Jinnah as secular and saying ‘’I salute Jinnah.’’
‘’By doing so he has sullied the dignity of several million citizens and the party itself. Advani should apologize to the nation,’’ Uma said. One of a handful of mass leaders in the cadre-based saffron party, the 46-year-old sanyasin, who became popular among her followers as ‘Didi’ (elder sister), was expelled after she made a scathing attack on the BJP top brass in her response to a show cause notice served by the BJP Central Parliamentary Board.
She was earlier suspended for her “conduct and statements” both inside and outside the Madhya Pradesh BJP legislature party meeting from which she had walked out along with her supporters protesting the “imposition” of Shivraj Singh Chouhan as the state chief minister by the board.
