The media projects Uma Bharati as a Barbie doll-loving, hysterical Hindutva fanatic. The urban middle classes and chatterati see her as a joke, uneducated, unsophisticated and unfit to govern. Even her own party seemed slightly relieved when she resigned as Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister. BJP President Venkaiah Naidu and General Secretary Pramod Mahajan have gone out of their way to belittle her Tiranga Yatra. The RSS, which should normally be wholeheartedly backing someone who has been part of the Sangh parivar, since she was a little girl, threw its full weight behind Sushma Swaraj’s Veer Savarkar campaign which for some reason was scheduled around the same time as the yatra’s culmination.The establishment’s dismissive attitude towards Bharati is not of recent origin. At times she is a victim of her own image. After she was sworn in as chief minister every action was scrutinised for a saffron angle. An investigative report on a TV channel probed what would be the impact of a proposed proclamation banning fishing in the Narmada, without bothering to check that there was no such ban in the offing. A stray remark by the state culture minister that she disapproved of girls wearing jeans to college was interpreted to mean that Bharati was going to forbid girls wearing trousers to college, even though the chief minister pointed out that she would be the last person to issue such an edict considering that she herself has often been criticised for her unconventional dress. Her pilgrimages to major Hindu shrines in the first month of office was seen as evidence that she had no time for governance. Nobody commented on the long hours she spent in office meeting visitors and clearing files.Bharati’s swift resignation as chief minister of Madhya Pradesh as soon as a warrant was issued against her was projected more as theatrics than an act of principle. She won scant praise for not demanding back her chief minister’s position after the case against her was squashed.Bharati may be dismissed by the elite as being of little consequence but she obviously matters to the aam admi. Under her leadership, the BJP won an unprecedented two-thirds majority in the assembly polls. And a few months later the BJP performed equally well in the parliamentary polls. The crowds who flocked to listen to her speeches during her recent campaign on the Tricolour testify to her charisma and mass appeal.It is therefore puzzling why the BJP treats a major political asset so cavalierly. It cannot be simply because of Bharati’s mercurial temperament, poor performance as CM or tendency to surround herself with unsuitable advisers. After all, she has been in office for less than a year. Arjun Munda has remained undisturbed as chief minister of Jharkhand despite a pathetic record as an administrator and a miserable performance in the parliamentary poll. Narendra Modi tarnished the image of the BJP not just in Gujarat but all over India but still the party refused to sack him. Murli Manohar Joshi as HRD minister was an embarrassment to the BJP government among its middle class supporters after he took on the IIMs, but no one dared suggest that he be dropped.The double standards shown towards Bharati reflect deep-rooted prejudices, not just in the BJP, but in the establishment as a whole. It is the same attitude which allowed the media to be far more irreverent towards “humble farmer Deve Gowda” when he was prime minister than any of his upper caste predecessors or successors. It is not just chance that saw the CBI doggedly pursuing corruption cases against Laloo Prasad Yadav, Mayawati and Shibu Soren, while letting off the hook much bigger fish. People in this mould are more frequently targeted because they are inconvenient. They chart out their own independent course, are not content to be token representatives of their communities and therefore the establishment cannot take them for granted. Which is probably the reason why their own biradiri trusts them to look after their interests.The BJP, which started out as an upper caste party backed by Brahmins and Banias, came to power only after expanding its base by making a conscious effort to incorporate leaders from all strata of society. The breakthrough came in 1989 when it swept to victory in Uttar Pradesh thanks to the support of the OBCs, who were represented by leaders like Kalyan Singh and Bharati. The BJP’s fortunes in UP declined around the same time as the Brahmin-Rajput coterie tried to ease out Kalyan Singh for non-performance and nepotism, a charge which could just as easily have been made out against just about any chief minister in India.It is not just the BJP but all national parties which exploit the leaders of the deprived sections to garner votes for them, but at the same time deny them an equitable share in the decision making process. OBC and Dalit representatives in the BJP’s national executive, like Shivraj Chauhan and Sangh Priya Gautam are generally low profile (Venkaiah Naidu is not a typical OBC since he belongs to the creamy layer.) Dalits and OBCs nurse a legitimate grievance that they get singled out for ridicule very easily. Mayawati refers to the media as “manuwadi” to make the point that the press can never be understanding of her because of its upper caste bias. Uma once confessed that she learnt from the example of Laloo Prasad Yadav who like her came from the wrong side of the tracks and was lampooned mercilessly by the urban middle class and upper castes when he first became chief minister of Bihar. The media mocked his “Bihari” style of speaking, his cloth sense, his shaggy hairdo and his manners. Instead of changing, Laloo chose to make his so called weaknesses his trade mark characteristics which are now accepted as his most endearing attributes. Bharati believes that she would have been politically decimated long earlier but for the fact that she had the support of a section of the upper castes thanks to her role in the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. She has stuck resolutely to her saffron image.Bharati may share the BJP ideology, but the entrenched party leadership will be making a miscalculation if it assumes that that the fiery OBC leader with a mind of her own can be taken for granted for all time to come. Give her the respect that is her due.
