Babulal Gaur at a news conference in New Delhi on Wednesday. (PTI)

Bhopal, Aug. 25: The BJP called a bandh in Madhya Pradesh to protest against Uma Bharti’s confinement in Hubli as her successor went about putting his stamp on the cabinet.

Babulal Gaur has claimed he will pursue the “Uma legacy” but privately the chief minister has promised an “independent line”. The cabinet formation has thus become a litmus test for him.

BJP circles here said Gaur would demonstrate his authority if his cabinet included known Uma-baiters such as Yashodhara Raje Scindia, Himmat Kothari, Narottam Mishra and few other senior MLAs.

Scindia scion Yashodhara had been openly critical of Uma. She had even accused the former chief minister’s brother, Swami Prasad Lodhi, of bringing disrepute to the BJP. Yashodhara’s tirade had come much before Uma fell out with her brother.

Long-time party MLAs like Kothari and Mishra, too, had been questioning Uma’s style of functioning at all party forums.

The new state cabinet is likely to take oath on Friday.

Gaur started his first day in office by shunting out nine senior bureaucrats who were serving in the chief minister’s office during Uma’s tenure. The shifting of the IAS and IPS officers handpicked by Uma barely a few months ago has sent shockwaves through the bureaucracy.

Gaur also announced he would not appoint advisers to the chief minister. Uma had four high-profile advisers drawn from the RSS who enjoyed enormous clout.

Other than the state bandh tomorrow, a “satyagraha”, too, would be staged in Hubli, Karnataka, from August 30 to September 25, said Arvind Bhaduria, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha vice-president and a close Uma associate. This, he said, would involve the mobilisation of party workers from across the country to create awareness on the Tricolour.

Uma has been held in a case involving the hoisting of the Tricolour on Idgah Maidan in Hubli on August 15, 1994, and addressing a rally that was followed by communal violence and the death of seven persons.

“As per the decision taken by the BJP leadership on Wednesday, 50 workers from every district of Madhya Pradesh would reach Hubli to attend the satyagraha aimed at generating awareness on the Tricolour,” Bhaduria said.

Through the day, support for Uma kept pouring in from various districts. Most shops and establishments in her home district of Tikamgarh and Chattarpur were closed in protest. BJP workers burnt Sonia Gandhi’s effigy in capital Bhopal, Gwalior, Satna and Indore, alleging that the Congress chief “conspired” to “fix” Uma.