By IANS
New Delhi : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is busy wooing its erstwhile leader Uma Bharti back into the party fold before the Gujarat elections and is keen that she rejoin the party before the campaign picks up.
On her part Bharti too “cannot ignore the advice of her guru” to return to the party fold, said a BJP leader considered close to her and working for her return to the party.
According to the Bharti confidante, a Gujarat victory is crucial for the long-term survival of the BJP. Therefore L.K. Advani himself is leading the effort to bring back her back. And party president Rajnath Singh has also pitched in his bit.
But her return could cause a setback to party dissidents from the state, said another source.
The return of Bharti, currently heading her own outfit Bharatiya Jana Shakti (BJS), “is definitely going to cause a big setback to the BJP dissidents in Gujarat”, said the source.
“There are a lot of BJP voters in Gujarat who are not inclined to go over to the Congress party, but who are unhappy with Modi (Chief Minister Narendra Modi). Uma Bharti was becoming the rallying point for such elements.
“But now she has already announced her intent to withdraw her candidates from Gujarat,” said the BJP leader.
Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who was here Friday to attend the BJP Parliamentary Board meeting, also made an appeal to her to return to the BJP. Sources close to Bharti said they expected her return sooner than later and hoped that she may be mobilized to campaign for Modi.
However, BJP sources claimed that her return may not necessarily take place immediately.
A source said: “Well wishers on both sides are working actively and she cannot ignore the call of her guru (Swami Pejewar Vishesha Tiratha) who has appealed to all Hindutva forces to reunite and work together to defeat anti-Hindutva forces.”
“It’s not as if things may happen overnight. But there is a thinking in the party that her contribution to the rise and establishment of the BJP as a national party cannot be denied and undermined.” He denied that so far any direct talks have taken place between the BJP and Bharti, but added, “Well wishers are talking to both sides.”
He also denied that the BJP felt any urgency in getting her back right away. “Her return will not be decided by the Gujarat elections. After all there is no desperate situation for the party in Gujarat anyway,” he said.
Meanwhile, Bharti indicated in Bhopal that she might withdraw her party’s candidates in the Gujarat assembly elections in favour of the BJP.
Before leaving for Gujarat by a train Saturday evening, the former central minister told the mediapersons: “I have been directed by my guru to ensure that Hindutva forces continue to remain in power in Gujarat and this would be possible, to a great extent, only when my party doesn’t jump in the fray.
“I can’t ignore my guru’s wishes and this is why I will discuss this latest development with my party’s workers in Gujarat and then take any decision,” she said.
She, however, clarified that her decision would be only in the case of Gujarat and it should not be mistaken for a change in her stance towards the BJP.
Gujarat will have two-phased polls on Dec 11 and Dec 16.