By IANS
New Delhi : With elections in Madhya Pradesh set for this year, fresh moves are afoot in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to woo back its one-time mascot and former state chief minister Uma Bharti. But opinion in the party is divided.
Some in the BJP feel that even if she does not return to the party fold, there should be an electoral understanding with her political outfit, the Bharatiya Jan Shakti (BJS), so as not to divide pro-Hindutva votes.
Most BJP leaders are not ready to be quoted by name while speaking on Uma Bharti.
But Amitabh Sinha, who heads the BJP intellectual cell, told IANS: “My personal view is that she should rejoin the party. Her return will help both her and the party.”
But other sources said that there was a section in the BJP that feared her return, citing the past acrimony between her and many second-generation leaders.
A party source said: “The original reasons (for which she left the BJP) do not exist any more. But some people fear her return. This will also be sorted out. It may take time. We have to look for an honourable way out.”
Uma Bharti was expelled from the BJP in December 2005 when L.K. Advani was the party president. In April 2006, she floated the BJS.
In the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections last year, she initially put up a few candidates in the Bundelkhand region adjoining Madhya Pradesh. Advani and some BJP leaders urged her to withdraw her candidates.
Later, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leaders like Ashok Singhal urged her to withdraw almost all her candidates in the larger interests of the Hindutva cause and also sounded her out on rejoining the BJP.
Again in Gujarat, Uma Bharti first announced she would take on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. She withdrew from the electoral arena following appeals from Modi, Advani and BJP president Rajnath Singh.