Uma Bharti heads for Kedarnath

Uma Bharti heads for Kedarnath
NEERJA CHOWDHURY

NEW DELHI, AUG 26: BJP leader Uma Bharti has taken off for Kedarnath in the Himalayas instead of heading for Nagpur, where the BJP's National Council is meeting to effect a change of guard. She will be spending the next six weeks in a cave three miles away from Kedarnath, which has been converted into a room. She is accompanied by her nephew and a couple of security guards. She will return to Delhi on October 8.

Bharti had sent off her letter of resignation to Prime Minister Vajpayee last week, quitting from the Lok Sabha. Vajpayee, who has not yet forwarded her letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker, urged her to reconsider her decision when she met him three days ago. He would take a final decision on her decision after returning from Nagpur, he told her.

But she would not be here when he returns. She will not have access either to TV or radio or the newspapers while she is tucked away in Kedarnath. It will take a couple of days for a messenger to even get a letter across to her from Hardwar.