But political obits have a positive side as well. They can, at times, coerce the person who is written off to bounce back with a much stronger resolve. Uma Bharti, the sanyasin from Madhya Pradesh falls in this category and so it was hardly surprising when she marched along with some 5000 plus supporters in Bhopal daring the state government to arrest her for attempting to kill Halke Raja during the Bada Malhera by elections.
Of course the government could not arrest her. The case is their against her but finally she was taken into preventive detention for violating prohibitory orders that were in place because of the ongoing Vidhan Sabha session.
So why she was not arrested? Could the Chattarpur district Superintendent of Police, Chanchal Shekhar have registered an attempt to murder case against a former chief minister without taking the present chief minister into confidence? Shekhar got the Jabalpur district in prize soon after the election code of conduct lapsed.
Coming back to the obits that were written after the recently formed Bhartiya Janshakti party lost both the Vidisha parliamentary and Bada Malehra assembly bypolls one could not help remember the day when the Sadhvi was shown the door by the BJP the last time around.
It was a thundering Uma Bharti, daring Atal Behari Vajpayee and Lal Krishan Advani and saying she was no lamb before she embarked on her Ram Roti yatra. The sadhvi walked all the way from Bhopal to Ayodhya amidst drum beats and chants of 'Jai Shri Ram'. She knew what she was targeting at. She made it a point to stop at every temple that stood in the way.
This time around when she was offering her arrest for the attempted murder, the scene looked like a Ramanand Sagar or BR Chopra set. Saffron flags floating in the air as the sadhvi rode a rath. This time again the targets were Atal Behari Vajpayee and Advani as a hapless police and district administration tried to persuade her that she could not be arrested under section 307 of the Indian Penal Code as the case was registered in Chattarpur district.
In Between Uma Bharti chose to cry before the media saying her 'gods'-- the idols that she kept with her all the time-were taken away by Halke Raja and his team. She reiterated that she was not afraid of the case that was registered against her but felt so strongly for her god. The sanyasin knew what she was doing.
Uma Bharti's candidate got 1.37 lakh votes in Vidisha parliamentary polls. Vidisha is a saffron strong hold from where people like Atal Behari Vajpayee have won elections. During the last general elections Shivraj Singh Chauhan had won by a margin of over 2.60 lakh votes and this time around the BJP candidate did not get these many votes in total. So what's the writing on the wall?
Uma is playing the caste game to the hilt and is evoking god for the upper castes. Vidisha and Bada malhera by-polls have shown she has been noticed and it would not be a surprise if she does a Mayawati in MP in the elections to come. Despite the obits.
About the AuthorHemender Sharma A chance reporter, reporting for CNN-IBN from Bhopal. Has reported for the Sun Magazine, Delhi MidDay, Hindustan Times, Asian Age and Sahara Samay in ...Read Morefirst published:November 14, 2006, 14:12 ISTlast updated:November 14, 2006, 14:12 IST
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Political obituaries unlike post death obits are written to deride at the subject. While the latter generally talks about the positive side of the person who is no longer available in flesh and blood, the former focuses on reasons why he or she walked away into oblivion. Also there are some suggestions on how the subject could have spared the pain of writing the obit.
But political obits have a positive side as well. They can, at times, coerce the person who is written off to bounce back with a much stronger resolve. Uma Bharti, the sanyasin from Madhya Pradesh falls in this category and so it was hardly surprising when she marched along with some 5000 plus supporters in Bhopal daring the state government to arrest her for attempting to kill Halke Raja during the Bada Malhera by elections.
Of course the government could not arrest her. The case is their against her but finally she was taken into preventive detention for violating prohibitory orders that were in place because of the ongoing Vidhan Sabha session.
So why she was not arrested? Could the Chattarpur district Superintendent of Police, Chanchal Shekhar have registered an attempt to murder case against a former chief minister without taking the present chief minister into confidence? Shekhar got the Jabalpur district in prize soon after the election code of conduct lapsed.
Coming back to the obits that were written after the recently formed Bhartiya Janshakti party lost both the Vidisha parliamentary and Bada Malehra assembly bypolls one could not help remember the day when the Sadhvi was shown the door by the BJP the last time around.
It was a thundering Uma Bharti, daring Atal Behari Vajpayee and Lal Krishan Advani and saying she was no lamb before she embarked on her Ram Roti yatra. The sadhvi walked all the way from Bhopal to Ayodhya amidst drum beats and chants of 'Jai Shri Ram'. She knew what she was targeting at. She made it a point to stop at every temple that stood in the way.
This time around when she was offering her arrest for the attempted murder, the scene looked like a Ramanand Sagar or BR Chopra set. Saffron flags floating in the air as the sadhvi rode a rath. This time again the targets were Atal Behari Vajpayee and Advani as a hapless police and district administration tried to persuade her that she could not be arrested under section 307 of the Indian Penal Code as the case was registered in Chattarpur district.
In Between Uma Bharti chose to cry before the media saying her 'gods'-- the idols that she kept with her all the time-were taken away by Halke Raja and his team. She reiterated that she was not afraid of the case that was registered against her but felt so strongly for her god. The sanyasin knew what she was doing.
Uma Bharti's candidate got 1.37 lakh votes in Vidisha parliamentary polls. Vidisha is a saffron strong hold from where people like Atal Behari Vajpayee have won elections. During the last general elections Shivraj Singh Chauhan had won by a margin of over 2.60 lakh votes and this time around the BJP candidate did not get these many votes in total. So what's the writing on the wall?
Uma is playing the caste game to the hilt and is evoking god for the upper castes. Vidisha and Bada malhera by-polls have shown she has been noticed and it would not be a surprise if she does a Mayawati in MP in the elections to come. Despite the obits.
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