NEW DELHI, 9 December 2003 — The day was a curtain-raiser to what is likely to be the Bharatiya Janata Party’s political agenda in the near future — promote more women politicians, continue with the Ayodhya agenda and keep the guns focused against the rival Congress party.
The highlight of the day was Vasundhara Raje Scindia and Uma Bharati being sworn in as the first women chief ministers of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, respectively. The swearing-in ceremony of Raje, who secured the biggest ever majority for BJP in Rajasthan Assembly elections, was for the first time held in a public place — the lawns of the state assembly.
Forty-four years old Hindu nun, Uma Bharati, is the youngest and the first person from backward classes to become Madhya Pradesh’s chief minister.
If Bharati has helped BJP regain hold in MP after ten years, Raje has secured BJP power in Rajasthan after a five-year gap.
At a grand public function, as small planes showered flower petals on the people, 50-year-old Raje, hailing from the royal Scindia family of Gwalior, was sworn in along with nine ministers at the grand public function. Among the BJP stalwarts who attended the ceremony were party president M. Venkaiah Naidu, general secretary Pramod Mahajan, union ministers Jaswant Singh, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Sahib Singh Verma and Digvijay Singh as well as chief ministers from the BJP-ruled states of Gujarat, Narendra Modi and Goa, Pratap Rane.
Uma Bharati’s swearing-in ceremony was conducted amid the presence of at least 50 Hindu clerics with showering of flower petals from small planes. Twelve Cabinet ministers and five ministers of state took the oath along with Bharati.
Those present at the ceremony included Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani, Union Human Resource Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi, Defense Minister George Fernandes, Food Minister Sharad Yadav, Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie and Textiles Minister Syed Shahnawaz Hussain.
While Raje was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Kailashpati Misra, Bharati was sworn in by Governor Ram Prakash Gupta.
With two ladies having spelt the much needed political charm for the BJP, the party, sources indicate, is looking for similar charmers for political challenges ahead. As women form half the population, they can prove to be far more reliable vote banks for BJP than the numerous caste leaders.
Despite BJP having reclaimed lost ground in two states of the Hindi belt, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar still remain out of its reach. BJP leaders are also giving serious thought to giving greater importance to younger members, signaling a generational shift in the party. Besides, the party has not abandoned its Ayodhya agenda.
BJP president Naidu said, “BJP would like to fight Lok Sabha elections on the plank of development and good governance but this does not mean it has given up its ideology or commitment to important issues like Ram temple, uniform civil Code and Hindutva.”
Whatsoever be BJP’s agenda, its primary focus at the moment is to target Congress in as hard-hitting manner as possible. Along this line, both the houses of Parliament were rocked yesterday with the BJP demanding explanation from the Congress president Sonia Gandhi on whether the suspended Congress member and former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi attempted to split the BJP with or without her consent.
Claiming that Sonia was “as much responsible” as Jogi under law, BJP members Madan Lal Khurana, V.K. Malhotra, Kirit Somaiyya and others wanted Sonia’s presence in the house and a statement on the issue.
