In the hills, Uma climbs down a bit

Like a soap opera that refuses to end, the saga of the suspended sanyasin continued today with Uma Bharati upgrading her self-portrayal of &...

Like a soap opera that refuses to end, the saga of the suspended sanyasin continued today with Uma Bharati upgrading her self-portrayal of ‘‘a daughter driven out of home on Diwali-eve’’ to an ‘‘Abhimanyu caught in a chakravyuh of BJP power-brokers.’’

In a lengthy letter couriered to BJP chief L K Advani from an undisclosed abode in the Himalayas, Uma Bharati said she was willing to apologise for daring Advani to take action against her (prior to her walk-out from a televised office-bearers meeting on November 10) but underlined that it would not be an unconditional apology.

‘‘The party must also apologise to me,’’ Uma said, for depicting her battle for swadeshi, probity in public life and national honour as an act of individual indiscipline.

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She also emphasised that her letter should not be construed as a plea for revocation of her suspension, adding that any decision on that front should be taken by both sides. ‘‘Yeh faisla ek tarfa nahin, dotarfa hoga (it will not be a unilateral but a mutually agreed decision),’’ she said, underlining that she would return on her terms.

In fact, despite the offer of apology and fulsome praise for both Advani and Atal Behari Vajpayee, the tone of the letter remained defiant. Her main complaint to Advani was that her raising of ‘‘ideological’’ issues had been deliberately distorted as an act of indiscipline. She said she had not targeted any individual’s lifestyle but only their ideological deviations.

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‘‘But it is individuals who carry forward ideology. These individuals gang up and form a coterie. Anyone who tries to break that chakravhyu becomes their target like Abhimanyu.’’

Although the RSS has officially kept itself aloof from the blood-letting in the BJP, Uma’s letter echoed the sentiments expressed by swayamsevaks at the RSS national executive meet in Hardwar earlier this month.

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Just as the RSS rapped the BJP leadership for abandoning both its ‘‘core character’’ and ‘‘distinct ideology’’, Uma too—while likening Advani to a father-figure— adopted a preachy and admonishing tone throughout. While decrying individuals and coteries in the party for their ideological deviation, she claimed that she remained steadfast to the founding ideals of the party.

‘‘Isliye mujhe to aapse yeh aasha hai ki aap mere jaise logon ko kamzor nahin hone denge (that is why I hope that you will not weaken people like me),’’ she said.

She also referred to a ‘‘confidential’’ letter that she had sent to Advani which, sources close to her said, was even more critical of the decline in the moral standards of the party.

The BJP, meanwhile, refused to comment on the letter that landed today. But whether Uma Bharati’s suspension is revoked or endorsed at the national executive meeting in Ranchi next week, no ‘‘closure’’ to this drama appears likely soon.