Sadhvi Uma Bharti’s Charkhari hogs limelight

If BJP comes to power in Uttar Pradesh, Uma Bharti would be chief minister. With BJP president Nitin Gadkari making this rather startling announcement in Mahoba on Monday, the Charkhari seat in Bundelkhand, from where Uma Bharti is contesting, has suddenly taken centre stage in the UP assembly election. Voting in the Bundelkhand region will take place in the fifth phase on Thursday.

Nestled between high mountain ranges, Charkhari is known as the “Kashmir of Bundelkhand”.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during his frequent visits to this region had tried to paint Uma as an “outsider”. But people of this “mini Kashmir” have known Uma for long. Even before she entered politics, Uma was popular here as a ‘sadhvi’ who used to come here to deliver sermons. Even as chief minister of neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, she never lost contact with this region as her political turf of Khajuraho and Tikamgarh are cheek by jowl with Charkhari.

“My rivals are trying to dub me an outsider. But I don’t need to remind you that I am your daughter,” is the refrain Uma invariably comes up with in every public meeting she has addressed here since she was declared a candidate.

The contest in Charkhari is not crucial for Uma alone, but for the entire BJP. The saffron party has sent in virtually each and every leader worth the name to canvass here, and has pressed its entire organisation into service to ensure a resounding victory for Uma.

The hitherto non-descript assembly constituency in a remote corner of Bundelkhand has suddenly become a VIP seat grabbing headlines, thanks to Uma Bharti.