BJP serves show-cause notice to Uma Bharati

     Bhopal: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came down heavily on senior party leader Uma Bharati on Tuesday for challenging the BJP's decision on electing Shivraj Singh Chouhan as head of its Madhya Pradesh unit and chief minister of the state, and for going to the media against the party. Issuing a show-cause notice to Bharati, general secretary Pramod Mahajan announced that a report would be collated by him and Arun Jaitley on the matter and disciplinary action would be decided at a parliamentary board meeting on Wednesday. In addition, Mahajan announced that six Madhya Pradesh leaders, supporting, Uma had been suspended while others who indulged in incidents of violence in Bhopal yesterday have been served show- cause notices. "Within 72 hours, they have been asked to clarify as to why they should not be suspended from the party, as they were also on a rampage during the legislature party meet yesterday evening," Mahajan said. Mahajan said that six BJP leaders including - Prahlad Patel, a close supporter of Uma Bharati, Mahendra Singh Yadav, Shailendra Sharma, Shiv Shankar Pateria and Shaitan Singh, had been suspended with immediate effect. Three other legislators -- Bharat Rao, Ramvilas and Ramesh Dubey - had meanwhile sent their apology letters to the party chief. The disciplinary committee headed by Ram Naik would decide as to what would be done with the apology letters.

     On being asked a question on Uma's padyatra, Mahajan clarified that it is not a yatra that has been organised by the party and should be seen as a private padyatra. He also said that no BJP workers would be participating in this yatra. On Uma Bharati's comment that she was the BJP, Mahajan retorted, "If someone says I'm Mother India tomorrow, what can we do. If someone calls a cap on his head a crown, we can't stop him." Mahajan had convened the press conference to make clear the BJP's stand on Uma Bharati's conduct during the party legislature meet in Madhya Pradesh yesterday, which was followed by statements made by her during a press conference this morning. The BJP Legislature Party meet was convened yesterday in which Shivraj Singh Chouhan was elected their leader. Chouhan has the clear cut support of 154 legislators as compared to 17 MLAs who walked out of the meeting with Uma Bharati. In today morning's press conference Uma Bharati further stepped up her offensive and said that she was the "real BJP". She went ahead and said that she will not accept any disciplinary action against her and rather took potshots at party chief L K Advani, general secretaries Arun Jaitley and Pramod Mahajan for "violating party discipline".

Vajpayee dismayed over Uma Bharti's defiance

      New Delhi/Bhopal: Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Tuesday took strong exception to the aggressive statements and protests being made by reclacitrant BJP MP Uma Bharati. "What Uma is doing is the height of indiscipline. Fair competition is a good thing, but when that competition transforms into a lust for power and crosses all limits, it creates difficulties in the future," Vajpayee told the reporters in Delhi after a meeting of the BJP Parliamentary Board. Referring to the change in party's leadership in Madhya Pradesh for the third time, Vajpayee said, "The Bhartiya Janata Party had succeeded in the last Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections with a clear majority. If situations compel for a change and, sometimes changes become necessary, it should be accepted. For our party, idealism is bigger than a chair and, if idealism is put at stake for the lust of power, neither the people nor the party will tolerate it". Hinting at the possibility of the BJP taking disciplinary action against Bharti, Vajpayee said that all matters were under consideration in the party and indiscipline would not be tolerated howsoever big the person is and whatever the issue maybe.

     Meanwhile, Bharti has begun her "Shama" (Forgiveness) Padyatra (Walk) from Bhopal to Ayodhya today. "I am not the issue. Shivraj is not an issue; he is like my big brother. But the main thing is that only four persons sitting in Delhi are carrying out the party's decision," Bharti told a press conference in Bhopal a day after her protest outside the venue of the BJP Legislature Party meeting. "I will not let the party be hijacked," she added. Bharti said that she did not want the image of the BJP to deteriorate and, that's why, "I consistently tried to resolve my differences within the party, but they ignored me for one year." She alleged that BJP General Secretaries Arun Jaitley and Pramod Mahajan had broken the discipline of the party and cheated the people of Madhya Pradesh. As far as her yatra was concerned, she said that it had already been decided earlier to undertake it. On Monday, Bharti and her supporters stormed out of the party's legislature meeting over the move to elect Chouhan as the party's leader in the state unanimously. The rebels claimed that the announcement was made in an unconstitutional manner, a charge that was denied by Mahajan who read the relevant portions of the BJP Constitution to prove his point. Out of the 172 persons present for the voting, 154 voted in favour of Chouhan, catching Bharti and 16 of her MLAs offguard. Chouhan, will assume charge as the 31st Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh this evening, replacing his predecessor Babulal Gaur. Chouhan is the third person to rise to the chief minister's post since the saffron party swept to power with a record three-fourth majority in December 2003. Last year, Bharti put in her papers as chief minister after a non-bailable warrant was issued against her in the Hubli rioting case. At that juncture too, Bharti had indirectly opposed both Gaur and Chouhan as her successors as she said that an MLA, and not a bigwig from the party organisation, should occupy the chief minister's post.