Uma Bharati

New Delhi : The politically-embattled Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Nov. 10 witnessed an unprecedented meltdown as senior leader Uma Bharati launched a public attack against her colleagues, prompting her immediate suspension from the party’s primary membership for six years.

In full gaze of TV cameras covering BJP president L.K. Advani’s address to party office-bearers, Bharati defied Advani’s stern directive for discipline, hit out against her colleagues and stormed out of the BJP headquarters in New Delhi, challenging Advani to take disciplinary action against her before making her exit.

Advani looked on helplessly as Bharati brought out in thethe ugly internal rows and growing unruliness in the party since the BJP-led coalition was voted out in the parliamentary elections in May. After Bharati’s stunning walkout, the leaders were closeted for an hour, following which former finance minister Jaswant Singh Singh announced her suspension.

The outspoken Bharati, who had come under attack for her tantrums since she resigned as Madhya Pradesh chief minister earlier this year, had literally pointed fingers at party colleagues from the Rajya Sabha –– without taking names –– and accused them of constantly running her down in the media.

This was just after Advani took her name and that of two other BJP leaders, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Shahnawaz Hussain, who have been engaged in shadow boxing in recent days.