Babulal Gaur steps into Uma Bharti's shoes

Former Chief minister to launch Tiranga yatra

Babulal Gaur will be the new chief minister of Madhya Pradesh. Gaur, home minister in Uma Bharti Cabinet, was unanimously elected the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislature party replacing Bharti.

Bharti proposed Gaur's name, which was unanimously accepted by the party MLAs. The meeting was attended by Arun Jaitley and Shivraj Singh Cho-uhan, BJP general secretaries. Gaur, a backward leader and an eight time MLA, is likely to be sworn in as the chief minister later this evening.

With the sessions and district court in Hubli, Karnataka, rejecting Bharti's plea for withdrawal of the case in the Idgah Maidan case, Karnataka police are expected to execute the non-bailable arrest warrant issued against Bharti on August 3.

The case related to violence that followed her attempt to hoist the national flag in the Maidan in defiance of prohibitory orders on the Independence Day in 1994. Five people were killed in firing.

Making a scathing attack on Congress chief Sonia Gandhi minutes before she was scheduled to tender her resignation to Governor Balram Jakhar, Bharti said her "tiranga yatra" would be the "final nail in the coffin" for the Congress.

Seeking people's support for her campaign, Bharti said the yatra would start after paying tribute at the statue of Rani Chinmani of Chittoor in Hubli and hoisting the national flag there.

Meanwhile, Bharti's resignation signalled a renewed campaign by the BJP and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to press for the removal of "tainted ministers" from the United Progressive Alliance government. The NDA will meet on Tuesday to decide the future course of action.

Both Houses of Parliament saw unruly scenes, with the BJP saying since Bharti had wasted no time in resigning, tainted ministers in the government should follow the suit. Both Houses were adjourned by 2 pm.

"The BJP parliamentary party has decided to accept Bharti's resignation. We will, however, continue to put pressure on the UPA government on the issue of tainted ministers," BJP spokesman VK Malhotra told reporters.

Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said there was no question of applying for bail for Bharti at the moment. "We will wait and watch what the developments are," he said.

A meeting of all NDA constituents including supporting members like the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) will be held tomorrow to decide the future course of action on the tainted ministers issue and also the government's refusal to restore Savarkar's name and quote in the Swatantra Jyoti memorial at Port Blair in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

"It has been conveyed to us by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad that Savarkar's name and quote will not be restored to the memorial," said Malhotra.

"Tomorrow's meeting will also decide our future course of action," he added.