Nemesis Lady?

Bhavdeep Kang November 17, 2003 00:00 IST Nemesis Lady? -0001-11-30T00:00:00+05:53

As a little girl, Uma Bharati was often invited to Digvijay Singh's house to deliver religious discourses. Twenty years later, she's leading the political charge against the Madhya Pradesh chief minister and delivering speeches of a kind the Raja is loathe to hear: "Where the road ends, MP begins...where there is an area of darkness, it is MP...an industrial graveyard."

In Delhi last fortnight to finalise the list of candidates, Digvijay was out of character—irritable and aloof. Uma, on the other hand, kept her turbulent temper on a leash. He's talking cows and temples; she development. The face-off between two of MP's most colourful political personalities, the sadhvi and the Raja, makes for titillating TV bytes. But away from the media spotlight rages the grimmest, grittiest electoral battle ever. A tug-of-war that Digvijay appears to be losing, inch by reluctant inch. But Congressmen say it's too early to write off the master manipulator who's known to spring surprises.

A strong anti-incumbency factor has given the BJP a clear edge in MP, say senior party...