Uma Bharti: Delhi calling

New Delhi, Nov. 17: Uma Bharti?s ?homecoming? seems almost certain after her proclamation from the heights of the Himalayas that the BJP?s ?unity? was paramount and she is ready to forego Madhya Pradesh.

Confirming this, BJP sources said the timing will be decided by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and party chief L.K. Advani.

Advani was ?advised? by RSS leaders, notably general secretary Madan Das Devi and swadeshi ideologue S. Gurumurthy, that ?punishing? Uma was not in the BJP?s long-term interest.

Despite the reported opposition of leaders like M. Venkaiah Naidu and Pramod Mahajan, the sources said Advani had ?little choice? but to accept the Sangh?s counsel.

That a mutually acceptable arrangement had been worked out was apparent from a release Uma issued yesterday in which she described Advani and Atal Bihari Vajpayee as ?living symbols of political asceticism and development? and herself as a ?jal tarang (water wave)? in the BJP?s ideology.

The praise, which came after she walked out of a BJP meeting last week and dared Advani to take action, was interpreted as a ?face-saver? for the party chief. Although the BJP felt she should offer an unconditional apology, the RSS?s advice was it should not stand on prestige and ?allow Uma to handle things her way?.

In the release, passed off as a letter to party workers, Uma said ?Madhya Pradesh should not be made a battleground for a show of strength? and that she was a member of the BJP despite her suspension.

The statement on Madhya Pradesh was given on the RSS-BJP?s request to bridge the cracks that have emerged in the state unit before the local bodies? elections due later this month.

Those close to Uma had earlier claimed they hoped to use the polls as a tool to hit back at chief minister Babulal Gaur who welcomed her suspension. But he was given a dressing down by Advani and told not to make statements against Uma.

It is learnt that the RSS wanted Advani to revoke Uma?s suspension and reinstate her as a general secretary before the BJP national executive meets in Ranchi from November 24 so that the party could project a ?united? face before the Bihar and Jharkhand elections. But Uma reportedly insisted on completing her Himalayan ?vacation? until November 30, after which she will return to Delhi.