Caste Game: RSS helps Uma Bharti survive

New Delhi: PM Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah had decided to show Union Minister Uma Bharti the door, but the RSS leadership said “it will send out a wrong message” to the Lodha community, where Ms. Bharti has considerable clout.

After Kalyan Singh left the BJP, the Lodhas had also shifted their allegiance.

Bharti was camping in Jhansi during the Cabinet reshuffle was finally taking shape in New Delhi. There were also reports, which she later denied, that she was going to Varanasi to keep the pressure on her party building.

Meanwhile, Bharti’s one time protege and MP from Damoh in Madhya Pradesh, Prahlad Patel, was in reckoning to replace Uma. Patel’s stocks in the party had been rising over the past twelve months after he started working with BJP President Amit Shah to ensure the party’s success in Manipur. While BJP managed to come to power in Manipur, Patel’s influence was being noticed.