Whether I turn 75 or 85, not quitting politics, will contest next election: Uma Bharti
The BJP leader said at a public rally that she had taken a five-year break from politics which led people to surmise that she has quit politics
Allaying speculations of having retired from active politics, the fiery Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Uma Bharti said that she has not quit politics and would contest the next election since she enjoys politics very much.
Addressing a public meeting in Sagar district of Bundelkhand region in Madhya Pradesh on Monday (September 11), the former Union minister said that she had only taken a five-year break as she had been working for a long time.
“I had refused to contest the election (last time) as I had been working for a long time. I thought of taking a break for five years. People thought that I left politics, but I am tired of saying that I have not quit politics,” she said.
Citing several development works, including the Ken–Betwa river interlinking project and the Lalitpur–Singrauli rail line, Bharti said that these projects became a reality because she was in politics. “Whether I turn 75 or 85, I will remain active in politics and contest the next election. I like politics very much,” the leader said.
She said that politics has been ruined by those who consider it a source of luxury.
Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh are due in November this year, while the Lok Sabha elections are scheduled next year.
Bharti had last contested the Lok Sabha election from Jhansi (Uttar Pradesh) in 2014 and after winning it, became a Union minister in Narendra Modi-led BJP government at the Centre.
Earlier this month, Bharti had expressed her displeasure for not being invited to the BJP's 'Jan Ashirwad Yatra’ launched by party president JP Nadda on September 3.
Demand for stringent liquor policy
In the past, Bharti also ran a campaign demanding a stringent liquor policy in the state and hurled stones at a couple of liquor shops as a mark of protest.
The former Union minister staged protests at various liquor shops in Bhopal, Orchha and Chhindwara during the course of this protest. She also stayed in a temple to protest demanding amendments to the liquor policy.
In the last week of August, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan expanded his cabinet and also inducted Bharti's nephew Rahul Singh Lodhi, MLA from Khargapur (Tikamgarh district), as a minister of state.
(With agency inputs)
