NEW DELHI, 1 December 2005 — The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) yesterday suspended Uma Bharati, one of its most prominent leaders, for leading a revolt after being denied a second term as the Madhya Pradesh chief minister, but the firebrand leader continued to blow hot and cold.
Uma, who began a march from the Madhya Pradesh capital Bhopal to Ayodhya to protest against the selection of Shivraj Singh Chauhan for the top post, urged the BJP to reconsider the decision, saying she had never deviated from its ideology.
“(Former Prime Minister Atal Behari) Vajpayee and (BJP President L.K.) Advani should reconsider. I have always been a part of the BJP and will always remain so,” she said at an impromptu press conference on the outskirts of Bhopal.
At the same time, she asked: “Is suspension the only action? I was expecting some other action.”
Earlier, the BJP parliamentary board in New Delhi sent a show cause notice to Uma asking her to explain within three days why she should not be expelled from the party.
“The parliamentary board considered the conduct and statements of Uma Bharati in the last few days and was of the opinion that these constitute anti party activities,” BJP General Secretary Arun Jaitely told reporters here after a 25-minute meeting at the party headquarters.
He said Uma has been suspended from the primary membership of the party with immediate effect.
He refused to state the specific grounds for the suspension, saying these would be contained in the show cause notice.
Uma’s supporters went on a rampage in Bhopal Monday to protest the election of Chauhan to the post of chief minister. The BJP has already suspended six of her loyalists, including former Union minister Prahlad Patel.
All of them were accused of instigating or being part of the mob that broke chairs and smashed furniture at the BJP headquarters in Bhopal.
Chauhan took oath as the new minister Tuesday at a function attended by the BJP brass including Vajpayee and Advani in order to signal that Uma enjoyed no sympathy at large.
When Vajpayee termed Uma’s actions as the “height of indiscipline”, she hit back saying she was the “real BJP”.
The politician also hit out at Jaitley and party leaders such as Pramod Mahajan and Sushma Swaraj.
She accused the leadership of ignoring the “real workers” and acting on behalf of leaders “who take turn to appear in television studios”.
Uma was in November 2004 suspended after similarly walking out in full view of TV cameras of a meeting being chaired Advani. She was reinstated after she tendered a written apology to Advani.
