BHOPAL, 8 December 2003 — Madhya Pradesh Governor Ramprakash Gupta has invited right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislature party leader Uma Bharati to be sworn as the 15th chief minister of the state. Deputy Prime Minister L.K . Advani will attend the oath ceremony.
Bharati will be sworn in today at 12.05 p.m. at the historic Lal Parade ground here instead of at the Raj Bhawan, to “enable people’s participation”.
She will take over as Madhya Pradesh’s first woman chief minister. She will also be the first chief minister from the backward Bundelkhand region.
Earlier, fiery sanyasin-politician Uma Bharti, was yesterday unanimously elected the BJP legislature party leader in the presence of central observers.
Her name was proposed by senior BJP leader Dr. Gaurishankar Shejwar and seconded by BJP national Vice President Pyarelal Khandelwal. The central observer from New Delhi was Petroleum Minister Ram Naik. The meeting was presided over by Law minister Arun Jaitley, whom BJP leaders describe as the “architect of BJP’s victory” in the state. Other federal ministers Vikram Verma, Dr. Satyanarayan Jatia and Prahlad Patel were also present on the occasion.
A product of the Ayodhya movement, 44-year-old Bharati is a four-time Lok Sabha member who was handpicked by Advani to lead the BJP campaign for the state elections. The BJP ended up with an almost three-fourths majority while the Congress was virtually decimated.
Sources in the BJP say that her Cabinet will be a small one, “not exceeding 15 percent of the assembly’s strength”. The leader of the opposition in the last assembly, Babulal Gaur, is being tipped for the post of assembly speaker.
Meanwhile, outgoing Chief Minister Digvijay Singh had submitted his resignation to the state governor yesterday. He reiterated his resolve not to take up any assignment — either in the government or in the party organization — for the next ten years.
