In an open act of defiance unheard of in BJP, leader Uma Bharti walked out of a party meeting in the presence of the top leadership on Wednesday.
In full glare of television cameras, Bharti stormed out demanding disciplinary action against some leaders who she said were working to sully her name.
As BJP president L K Advani, former prime minister A B Vajpayee and Jaswant Singh watched, she left the hall after Advani dismissed her demand for discussion on the charges levelled by her.
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Bharti has been at the centre of intra-party wrangling ever since she stepped down as Madhya Pradesh chief minister and got involved in a row with M Venkiah Naidu, Pramod Mahajan and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.
"There are four to five people in this hall who do off-record briefings (against me) that appear as headlines. So I am forced to save my reputation by being compelled to speak on record. And that is being branded as indiscipline," she thundered as she walked out ignoring appeals by Rajnath Singh and Kishan Singh Sangwan to calm down.
As she spoke against her detractors, Advani intervened saying, "I have said this matter is closed. Closed means closed for all."
"I am sorry. Advaniji, you take action against them for indiscipline," she said and left in a huff.
As the media chased her, she shouted at them saying, "You people go back or else I will call the security personnel."
Earlier, Advani expressed concern over leaders like Bharati, Shahnawaz Hussain and Naqvi airing their views against each other in the media.
"There is a limit to how much can be tolerated," an angry Advani said. Bharti and Naqvi were last week involved in a spat causing embarassment to the party.
As Bharti's sudden walkout caused a flutter in the gathering, party media cell convenor Sidharth Nath Singh asked all the media persons to remove their mikes and cameras and leave the meeting hall.
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