Firebrand leader and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Uma Bharti on Sunday spoke on speculation about the prospects of her immediate return to the Bharatiya Janata Party by stating that she would need time to decide whether she should enter active politics or address issues confronting the nation through apolitical or other means.
Ms Bharti made her stand public on the issue of her re-entry into the BJP at a press conference at her residence here on Sunday afternoon. She said what senior BJP leader L.K. Advani has written in his blog regarding her talks with him about strengthening the BJP in Uttar Pradesh and contesting from that state is “cent per cent correct”. She circulated copies of the text appearing in this blog. Mr Advani has written: “Umaji spoke to me, and on my advise, agreed that she would concentrate hereafter on strengthening the party unit in Uttar Pradesh, which I have mentioned earlier had become greatly enfeebled. She said she would like to contest also from UP. But she sought some time from the party president before plunging headlong into the fray.”
Ms Bharti said that she has not been active in public life for more than a year due to the untimely death of her sister-in law, which came as a huge blow and a personal tragedy.
She said there are so many burning issues like corruption, Naxalism, criminalisation of politics, misuse of electronic voting machines, women’s reservation and lack of clarity on reservation for women belonging to backward communities, Ram temple at Ayodhya and the huge gap between the rich and the poor in this country.
Ms Uma Bharti said that she wants to work for the backward sections in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra. She particularly raised the issue of farmer suicides in the Vidharbha region of Maharashtra.
Ms Bharti said she is still a member of Bhartiya Jan Shakti, the political outfit she had floated.
Recalling her contribution in the BJP, Ms Bharti went on to narrate how she had worked for the BJP in Karnataka when it had only four MLAs in that State.
She was also in the forefront Opposing Mulayam Singh in Uttar Pradesh and Lalu Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi in Bihar and the infiltrators from across the border. She had also defeated Mr Digvijay Singh in MP in 2003. Taking potshots at SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and UP chief minister Mayawati, she said that both of them have distorted the dalit movement.