New Delhi: The cracks are beginning to widen in the Madhya Pradesh unit of the BJP after party president J.P. Nadda left out former chief minister Uma Bharti from the guest list of the mega Jan Ashirwad Yatra that he flagged off Sunday.
Bharti, a firebrand leader on the frontlines of the Ram Temple movement, told the media that the party should have at least sent her an invitation “as a formality” though she was not planning to attend the yatra in any case.
The leader took a dig at the party leadership, saying the BJP leaders might have been nervous that “all the public attention would be on me if I was at the yatra”.
She said Jyotiraditya Scindia – whose 2020 defection from the Congress – may have helped the BJP form the state government that year, “but I got them a bigger majority (in 2003)”, Bharti told reporters.
In 2003, Bharti had ended the rule of Congress chief minister Digvijaya Singh by a three-fourth majority.
Bharti also said Sunday that she would continue to raise issues related to the poor state of schools and hospitals in the state, but added she had nothing against Scindia, who was like a “beloved nephew”.
The former chief minister, however, sounded very miffed at being left out of the yatra inauguration, saying she was at least “worthy of an invite”.
She believes the party may invite her to campaign for the upcoming state polls, which she would do – “despite all this”.
As Bharti’s comments went viral, the leader took to X Monday and accepted that she had not been invited for the yatra flag-off ahead of the Madhya Pradesh elections.
“I did not receive an invitation to start the Jan Ashirwad Yatra. It is true that I have said this. But whether or not I receive an invitation does not make me more or less (important). Yes, now if I am invited, I will not go anywhere. Neither at the beginning nor at the closing ceremony on 25th September,” she wrote.
She also maintained that she will campaign “whenever and wherever Shivraj ji (Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan) asks me”.
“The thread of respect I have for Shivraj ji in my mind and the affection he has for me in his heart is unbreakable and strong. If he asks me to campaign, I will do that due to the respect I have for him,” she added.
Bharti maintained that despite not being invited she would not take any steps to hurt the party’s prospects. “I am one of those people whose blood and sweat has created the BJP. I will never harm the party,” she added.
The BJP in Madhya Pradesh is yet to comment on the matter. But the Opposition Congress said this was a clear sign that Bharti was being sidelined.
“BJP has a culture and tradition to sideline its senior leaders… Balraj Madhok was sidelined first and then Atal and Advani ji were sidelined by Modi and now Uma Bharti is being sidelined by Shivraj Singh Chouhan and the BJP in Madhya Pradesh. The day is not far when Chouhan himself will be sidelined after the elections,” said former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh Kamal Nath.