In the race between BJP’s two top women leaders, Sushma Swaraj and Uma Bharati, the latter — despite her sojourn in the Himalayas — has been left far behind.In the fresh lot of appointments announced today, Swaraj was named a spokesperson for both the BJP and the party’s Parliamentary wing. The deputy leader of the BJP in the Rajya Sabha, Swaraj also retains her position as the only woman in the high-profile Central Parliamentary Board as well as the CEC.Bharati, who refused to become general secretary because her demands (dropping Pramod Mahajan and a greater say in MP affairs) were not met, was not accommodated in any of the important committees. She is only a member of the national executive.Swaraj, on the other hand, has been rewarded for her ‘‘sobriety’’. BJP vice-president M.A. Naqvi, who was the most frequent spokesperson of the party, has lost the job to Swaraj.Apart from Swaraj, the three other spokespersons are Arun Jaitley, Yashwant Sinha, and Manvendra Singh. The four spokespersons for the parliamentary party, besides Swaraj, are V.K. Malhotra, Sushil Modi and Ravi Shankar Prasad. Whether Bharati’s services will be used in the Bihar polls is also uncertain at the moment. ‘‘Let her first return to warmer climes,’’ said a BJP leader, sarcastically.
