11 November 2004	Thursday	27 Ramazan 1425

NEW DELHI, Nov 10: A leadership tussle in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) burst into the open on Wednesday when it was forced to suspend Hindutva mascot Uma Bharti, an accused in the Babri Masjid demolition case, for indiscipline.

Ms Bharti, a low caste leader of the notionally upper-caste BJP, was also stripped of her recently given rank as party general secretary after she publicly accused her colleagues of belittling her contribution to the party.

She asked BJP chief Lal Krishan Advani to either probe her charges or to take action against her. Mr Advani is regarded as Ms Bharti's mentor. He too was an accused in the 1992 Babri Masjid case.

Ms Bharti's suspension was announced by party leader Jaswant Singh shortly after she walked out of a meeting in open defiance of the leadership.

"On account of the conduct of Uma Bharti, all office-bearers of the party recommended that she no longer be kept as general secretary and be suspended from the primary membership of the party," Mr Singh told reporters, midway through the meeting of party office-bearers with BJP president Mr Advani.

Ms Bharti's protest was captured on TV cameras, although it was not clear why the media were allowed for the first time to watch an internal party meting of the BJP.

Mr Advani took over as party president following a series of poll defeats. The BJP recently lost state elections in Maharashtra, one of India's richest states.-J.N