Uma

Bhopal, Jan. 16: Madhya Pradesh is witnessing a cat-and-mouse game between chief minister Babulal Gaur and his predecessor, Uma Bharti, who is trying to get back the seat of power in Bhopal.

Uma camped in Bhopal for three days testing waters. Her much-touted attempt to review the state government?s performance turned out to be a slanging match between her supporters and those loyal to the chief minister.

On the eve of the performance appraisal meeting, Gaur acted deftly, stripping three Uma loyalists of the rank of minister of state. Pushpendra Solanki, Anil Yadav and Shiv Chaube, who were members of a high-profile ?Panch-J? panel, were reduced to permanent invitees, losing perks of office.

The Panch-J or five-J panel was set up to accelerate all-round development consisting of jal (water), jungle, jamin (land), jan (human being) and janwar (cattle wealth) when Uma was chief minister.

The venue of the meeting too witnessed a tug of war. Initially, Uma said emphatically that the review meet would take place at her residence. But just half an hour before the meeting yesterday, the venue was changed to Gaur?s residence ostensibly on security grounds.

At the meeting, Uma loyalist and chairman of the Panch-J panel Laxman Singh Gaur accused the Babulal Gaur regime of disregarding the panel?s proposals. He said the chief secretary was not even replying to his letters. Chief secretary Vijay Singh stoically said he was merely following the chief minister?s instructions.

Uma, who was present during the ?official? meeting, asked about her pet themes of cow conservation and employment generation programmes.

She expressed her disappointment that the Gaur regime had failed to set up a gau shala (cow shed) in every village of the state. Gaur kept mum but an official release later said the government would set up a cow shed in every district of the state. Official sources said the state cattle conservation board?s annual grant of Rs 58 lakh was too meagre to have cow sheds in every village of the state.

The next round of Uma and Gaur?s show of one-upmanship will be in Bihar, where the two leaders are busy projecting themselves as ?vote pullers?.

Uma?s camp claimed that the sadhvi would camp for 20 days in Bihar to campaign for the BJP. Not to miss the opportunity, Gaur flashed a letter from BJP chief L.K. Advani inviting him to campaign in Bihar.

Gaur has even started speaking in Bhojpuri these days to flash his credentials as an impeccable Yadav.