Senior BJP leader and union sanitation and water supply minister Uma Bharti on Monday announced that she will not contest the 2019 General Elections Lok Sabha as she was retiring from active politics due to health reasons. She, however, maintained that she will campaign and serve the party.
“I have back and knee problems that have restricted my mobility. I have therefore decided not to contest during the 2019 General Election,” she said at her constituency Jhansi.
The 59-year-old minister said that she will campaign for the BJP in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections, if asked, said that she will not be in the running for chief minister. “My age do not allow me to be a part of any race. I don’t have any wish to become the CM of any state,” she said.
Uma Bharti added that she has seen the rise of the party from a two-seat party to what it is today. “I am very happy that the BJP has become the biggest party in the country. The BJP will get majority again after 2019 Lok Sabha polls and Modiji will continue to be the country’s prime minister,” she predicted.
Born on May 3 1959 in Teekamgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uma Bharati played an important role in the Ram Janambhoomi movement along with Sadhvi Ritambhara. She was also a minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee and led the party to victory in 2003 Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls to become the Chief Minister.
Earlier, Uma Bharti had announced she would launch 'mahaupvaas se mahaprayan' (fast unto death) if an implementation of plans related to Ganga cleaning did not start by October 2018.
The drinking water and sanitation minister made the remarks in the presence of Union Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Minister Nitin Gadkari at an event here.
Bharti had held the portfolio of water resources before Gadkari took charge of the ministry following a reshuffle of the Union Cabinet in September.
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