BHOPAL: Five days after expressing differences over their stand on alcohol ban in Madhya Pradesh, bonhomie seems to have returned between Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and former chief minister Uma Bharti.
The two senior BJP leaders tweeted on Saturday praising each other. “I made a mistake, by not sharing with you that Shivraj Ji had rung me immediately after I had mentioned him through media. We had a 20-minute-long conversation over the phone and decided to meet soon for positive and decisive discussions on all issues. Shivraj ji’s affection for me and my respect for him can never decrease,” Bharti tweeted on Saturday.
Returning the gesture, Chouhan tweeted: “She’s not just a political worker but also a social reformer, who works enduringly to take the society in the right direction. I’m with her in all reformative works.”
According to sources, the open differences between the two senior leaders have not gone well with the BJP leadership, which apparently communicated with Bharti.
Mocking the two leaders, state Congress spokesperson Narendra Saluja asked why Bharti took five long days to remember that the CM had telephoned her immediately after her tweets on April 4. “If the present CM has so much respect for the ex-CM, why doesn’t he announce a total alcohol ban in the state, as demanded by her. He is instead making liquor cheap.”
On April 4, while addressing a program in Narmadapuram, Chouhan had said, “Total prohibition alone cannot end liquor consumption, as even in states where there is total liquor ban, the situation is bad.” The CM’s public statements were seen as a response to Bharti’s sustained demand for total liquor ban in the state.