BJP divided over Uma return to party fold
BJP chief Nitin Gadkari’s efforts to bring back former party leader and saffron sanyasin Uma Bharti in the party suffered another setback after differences among party leaders on the issue came to the fore.
On Wednesday, Mr Gadkari had to convene a meeting of party’s core group after the party’s Madhya Pradesh unit witnessed a spat between those favouring Ms Bharti’s return and those opposing her reinduction, thus putting the party in an embarrassing position.
The BJP core group also discussed party’s future strategy to counter charges by Karnataka governor H.R. Bhardwaj on the issue of illegal mining and corruption against the B.S. Yeddyurappa government in the state. The party alleged that the Congress was trying to destablise the state government.
After the core group meeting ended, senior party leader Ananth Kumar said the party had not taken any decision on the return of Ms Bharti.
Meanwhile, the party issued a warning to two ministers in the Shivraj Singh Chouhan Cabinet in Madhya Pradesh — Mr Babulal Gaur and Mr Kailash Vijayvargiya — asking them to refrain from sharing with the media their views on Ms Bharti’s return.
“Whatever decision has to be taken on the issue will be taken by the parliamentary board of the party,” Mr Kumar said.
The meeting held at Mr Gadkari’s residence was attended by senior leaders, including Mr L.K. Advani, Ms Sushma Swaraj, Mr Arun Jaitley, Mr Ananth Kumar, Mr M. Venkaiah Naidu, Mr Rajnath Singh and Dr M.M. Joshi.
Sources disclosed while Mr Advani and Mr Rajnath Singh are in favour of Ms Bharti’s return, some of the leaders, including Ms Swaraj, Mr Naidu and Mr Kumar, are opposed to the idea.
The party’s Madhya Pradesh unit is also divided on the issue. While chief minister Chouhan and Mr Gaur are opposed to her, senior state leader Kailash Vijayvargiya is in favour of her joining the party.
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BJP Rajasthan unit constitutes executive
Narayan Bareth
Jaipur
July 14: After experiencing factional feuds for over a year, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has finally constituted its new state executive.
The new jumbo-size Rajasthan executive has 256 members while several known Vasundhara Raje loyalists could not get a place in the new executive. Former external affairs minister Jaswant Singh and his son Manvendra Singh are both included in the executive.
The party high command tried to strike a balance between the rival sections and also made an attempt to infuse new blood by accommodating 100 new faces in the organisation. The executive constitution was delayed due to fight for supremacy between RSS-backed state president Arun Chaturvedi and former chief minister Raje’s supporters.
According to sources, despite claiming to appease all sections, the executive is dominated by pro-Sangh leaders in it.
The BJP has appointed three general secretaries, namely Satish Punia, Madan Dilawar and Srichand Kriplani. Mr Punia and Mr Dilawar are known for their deep Sangh affiliation.
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