After Sushma Swaraj, Uma Bharati too opts out of 2019 Lok Sabha polls

December 4: Uma Bharti has become the second Union Minister after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to declare that she would not be contesting the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Like foreign minister Sushma Swaraj, Uma Bharti had cited medical reasons when she first spoke about the possibility to opt out of the 2019 elections. The MP from Jhansi said she was a two-time Member of Parliament and since she had done a lot of party work, her health had been affected.

Uma Bharti was initially entrusted with the responsibility of overseeing the water resources and Ganga rejuvenation ministry in PM Modi’s cabinet,  But last year, she was stripped of the charge and handed out a relatively low profile drinking water and sanitation ministry.

Addressing the media in Bhopal, the MP from Jhansi said she would concentrate on issues such as the building of Ram Temple in Ayodhya and the cleanliness of river Ganga. Uma Bharti was one of the most visible faces of the Ram temple movement back in the nineties and was also charged by the CBI for the conspiracy to pull down the Babri Masjid. She was also the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh for a little less than a year in 2003-04.