Sangh washes hands of Uma Bharti

Washing its hands off expelled Bharatiya Janata Party leader Uma Bharti, the Sangh Parivar virtually endorsed the party's action against its one-time Hindutva icon saying discipline was the party's internal matter.

"Our stand from the beginning has been that on questions of discipline, the Sangh would not like to comment on the decisions of other organisations because we always accorded very high priority to discipline," Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh spokesman Ram Madhav said.

Asked whether the Sangh agreed with her charge about the party's ideological dilution, he said, "The party would have certainly thought about the issues she has raised before taking the decision. It is purely an intra-party matter.

"We will raise the issues if we are concerned," he said.

On whether RSS would back her since she was raising Hindutva issues including that of the Ram temple, he said, "Hindutva movement is open to all Hindus."

Meanwhile, dubbing her expulsion as an 'internal matter' of the party, Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Praveen Togadia said from Pune, "Hindutva ideology and Ram are issues of faith for Hindus. To take them up when not in power and forget when in power will never be accepted by Hindus."

Conceding that Bharti's exit would be a loss for the Parivar, VHP leader Acharya Giriraj Kishore said, "Political parties have some norms and they should be followed."

He said VHP would welcome her as Sanyasin if she goes to Ayodhya. While Bharti had incurred the Sangh's wrath by attacking its Joint General Secretary Suresh Soni, she had antagonised Togadia by complaining against him to VHP supremo Ashok Singhal over his remarks against BJP president Lal Kishenchand Advani in the wake of the Jinnah controversy.