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Tainted Ministers : BJP Chief Minister in trouble |
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The BJP which has been keeping the UPA Government on tenterhooks on the issue of some “tainted Ministers” in the Manmohan Singh Cabinet, was caught in its own web last week. It has now emerged that BJP Chief Minister Uma Bharti of Madhya Pradesh has also a court case against her and a non-bailable arrest warrant against her has been issued by a Hubli court in Karnataka.
Uma Bharti has submitted her resignation to the party president Venkaiah Naidu. In a “show of solidarity” with the beleaguered Chief Minister, 24 state ministers also sent in their resignation to the state party chief, Kailash Joshi, on August 22.
Observers, however, note that the whole “show” is nothing but an eyewash. If Uma Bharti and her ministerial colleagues were serious, they should have submitted their resignations to the Governor.
The case against her, filed ten years ago, pertains to hoisting the Tricolour at the then disputed Idgah Maidan in Hubli (Karnataka) on August 15, 1992 and making an “inflammatory” speech on that occasion. While the Congress-led State Government, had in 2002, withdrawn the other cases against her, the one under Section 307 relating to attempt to murder, was still pending in a higher court.
The Karnataka Government, which had filed a revision petition before the First Additional District and Sessions Judge for permission to withdraw the case, has now told the court that it wants to withdraw the revision petition. This decision comes at a time when two revision petitions filed by the Government and on behalf of Bharti are being heard by D’Cunha, Additional District and Sessions Judge, Hubli. The two petitions had questioned the decision of the trial court in not taking cognizance of the Government’s decision to withdraw the case.
Ten cases were filed in connection with the Idgah agitation in Hubli on August 15, 1994 against Ms. Bharti and local BJP leaders, Jagadish Shettar, Rajendra Gokhale and others. At one stage, Ms. Bharti was proclaimed an offender and non-bailable warrants were issued by the Hubli court many times. In January 2002, the Government decided to withdraw all criminal cases filed in connection with the Idgah agitation. However, two cases filed against Ms. Bharti and 21 others were not withdrawn.
The Congress has demanded her resignation. Party spokesperson Anand Sharma has pointed out that it only showed the hypocrisy of the BJP leadership that had raised such a storm over tainted ministers. He said: “In Uma Bharati’s case, such incidents don’t alarm us as she has been involved in bigger crimes and yet the BJP made her the Chief Minister.”
But Bharti had earlier argued that there was no need to her to resign. “I want to know from the Congress if hoisting the national flag and taking the name of Lord Ram had become a crime in the country. It is a sad reflection of the situation in the country which has come from Mahatma Gandhi to Sonia. I will, however, follow the judicial process and am taking legal opinion. I would consult the party leadership on the matter. How could I be charged with making an inflammatory speech when I did not speak anything and was arrested even before the flag could be hoisted.”
Bharti had already moved the court, praying for setting aside the order of a Second Class Judicial Magistrate, who had earlier rejected an application for dropping the charge.
Meanwhile, the BJP has decided to convene a meeting of its Parliamentary Board on Aug 23 to decide her fate.
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