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Tag: Uma Bharti

  • MP: Uma Bharti staying in Bhopal temple to seek stringent liquor policy

    By PTI

    BHOPAL: Ahead of the Madhya Pradesh government’s likely announcement of a new liquor policy, Bharatiya Janata Party veteran Uma Bharti is staying at a temple in state capital Bhopal demanding the policy be made more stringent.

    If a “controlled liquor policy” is implemented, the ruling BJP will repeat its record victory like 2003, Bharti told reporters on Saturday after she reached the temple located near a liquor shop at the Ayodhya Nagar trisection.

    The BJP leader announced she will stay there till January 31, awaiting the liquor policy announcement.

    The Assembly elections in MP are due in December this year.

    Bharti has been demanding appropriate amendments in liquor policy, which the state government releases every year, and incorporating more controls to promote de-addiction.

    She had earlier opposed the wine shop located near the temple.

    The Madhya Pradesh government has not announced any date, but a new liquor policy is generally announced in January-end.

    The former Union minister said she had expressed a desire to tour various spots in Madhya Pradesh last November, but the visit could not materialise due to lack of arrangements for her staff including security personnel.

    “I have never demanded absolute prohibition. I said I would implement a total prohibition if it is in my control. I have full faith in Shivraj ji (MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan). I will wait for the decision about the liquor policy on January 31,” she said.

    The former state chief minister also said she did not want the opposition Congress to benefit from her stand.

    “If a controlled liquor policy, as I had told (to the BJP government), is implemented, the BJP will repeat its record victory like 2003,” she said.

    The BJP had won 165 seats in the 230-member MP Assembly in the 2003 polls decimating the Congress, which was in power at that time, to 58 seats. After that election, Bharti became the chief minister. She resigned after eight months.

    BHOPAL: Ahead of the Madhya Pradesh government’s likely announcement of a new liquor policy, Bharatiya Janata Party veteran Uma Bharti is staying at a temple in state capital Bhopal demanding the policy be made more stringent.

    If a “controlled liquor policy” is implemented, the ruling BJP will repeat its record victory like 2003, Bharti told reporters on Saturday after she reached the temple located near a liquor shop at the Ayodhya Nagar trisection.

    The BJP leader announced she will stay there till January 31, awaiting the liquor policy announcement.

    The Assembly elections in MP are due in December this year.

    Bharti has been demanding appropriate amendments in liquor policy, which the state government releases every year, and incorporating more controls to promote de-addiction.

    She had earlier opposed the wine shop located near the temple.

    The Madhya Pradesh government has not announced any date, but a new liquor policy is generally announced in January-end.

    The former Union minister said she had expressed a desire to tour various spots in Madhya Pradesh last November, but the visit could not materialise due to lack of arrangements for her staff including security personnel.

    “I have never demanded absolute prohibition. I said I would implement a total prohibition if it is in my control. I have full faith in Shivraj ji (MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan). I will wait for the decision about the liquor policy on January 31,” she said.

    The former state chief minister also said she did not want the opposition Congress to benefit from her stand.

    “If a controlled liquor policy, as I had told (to the BJP government), is implemented, the BJP will repeat its record victory like 2003,” she said.

    The BJP had won 165 seats in the 230-member MP Assembly in the 2003 polls decimating the Congress, which was in power at that time, to 58 seats. After that election, Bharti became the chief minister. She resigned after eight months.

  • Bhopal Diary: Uma Bharti meets expelled BJP leader

    Express News Service

    Uma Bharti meets expelled BJP leaderEx-CM and former Union Minister Uma Bharti created a flutter by recently meeting the expelled BJP leader Pritam Lodhi in Gwalior. She said that if the party can apologise for acting against ex-finance minister and senior leader Jayant Malaiya (against whom action was initiated in the wake of 2021 Damoh by-poll loss), why can’t it forgive the backward caste leader Pritam Lodhi. Lodhi was expelled from BJP for outrageous utterances about Brahmins last year and since then has been working with the OBC Mahasabha to build a third front in MP politics. Bharti has recently asked her OBC Lodhi community to decide on who to vote on their volition and not be influenced.

    Scindia loyalist claims Congress wants him backA Jyotiraditya Scindia loyalist MP minister Brijendra Singh Yadav has claimed that the opposition Congress is trying for his return to the party. Yadav, who represents Mungaoli seat in the Vidhan Sabha and is a minister of state, recently alleged that Congress is trying to get him back to the party, but every time the grand old party does so, its own ranks switchover to the BJP.  Yadav’s allegation comes a few weeks after the Leader of Opposition Dr Govind Singh had claimed that many Scindia loyalist and former MLAs wanted to return to the Congress, as they fear that BJP may deny them tickets in the assembly polls.

    Sagar city to levy tax on pet owners from AprilCome April 2023, Sagar city will become MP’s first city to levy a tax on pet dog owners. According to Sagar municipal commissioner Chandrashekhar Shukla in the wake of rising stray dog menace and dirtying of public places by defecation of pet dogs, all the municipal wards of Sagar have unanimously resolved for strict registeration, vaccination of dogs as well as levying tax on those owning the pet dogs. The rules for it will be framed by the Sagar Municipal Corporation in consultation with legal experts and the new rules will come into effect from April 2023. 

    Anuraag singhOur correspondent in Madhya [email protected]

    Uma Bharti meets expelled BJP leader
    Ex-CM and former Union Minister Uma Bharti created a flutter by recently meeting the expelled BJP leader Pritam Lodhi in Gwalior. She said that if the party can apologise for acting against ex-finance minister and senior leader Jayant Malaiya (against whom action was initiated in the wake of 2021 Damoh by-poll loss), why can’t it forgive the backward caste leader Pritam Lodhi. Lodhi was expelled from BJP for outrageous utterances about Brahmins last year and since then has been working with the OBC Mahasabha to build a third front in MP politics. Bharti has recently asked her OBC Lodhi community to decide on who to vote on their volition and not be influenced.

    Scindia loyalist claims Congress wants him back
    A Jyotiraditya Scindia loyalist MP minister Brijendra Singh Yadav has claimed that the opposition Congress is trying for his return to the party. Yadav, who represents Mungaoli seat in the Vidhan Sabha and is a minister of state, recently alleged that Congress is trying to get him back to the party, but every time the grand old party does so, its own ranks switchover to the BJP.  Yadav’s allegation comes a few weeks after the Leader of Opposition Dr Govind Singh had claimed that many Scindia loyalist and former MLAs wanted to return to the Congress, as they fear that BJP may deny them tickets in the assembly polls.

    Sagar city to levy tax on pet owners from April
    Come April 2023, Sagar city will become MP’s first city to levy a tax on pet dog owners. According to Sagar municipal commissioner Chandrashekhar Shukla in the wake of rising stray dog menace and dirtying of public places by defecation of pet dogs, all the municipal wards of Sagar have unanimously resolved for strict registeration, vaccination of dogs as well as levying tax on those owning the pet dogs. The rules for it will be framed by the Sagar Municipal Corporation in consultation with legal experts and the new rules will come into effect from April 2023. 

    Anuraag singh
    Our correspondent in Madhya Pradesh
    [email protected]

  • Twin legal jolts to BJP: MLA Jajji likely to get disqualified, MLA Rahul Lodhi’s election declared void

    By Express News Service

    BHOPAL: The ruling BJP has suffered twin jolts within five days, as two of its legislators, including ex-Chief Minister Uma Bharti’s nephew Rahul Singh Lodhi and union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia-loyalist Jajpal Singh Jajji, are likely to lose their Vidhan Sabha membership, following orders from the Madhya Pradesh High Court.

    The principal bench of the MP High Court in Jabalpur, had on December 7, set aside the 2018 election of Khargapur (Tikamgarh) MLA Rahul Singh Lodhi over improper filing of nomination papers.

    On the other hand, the High Court’s Gwalior bench on Monday ordered the quashing and confiscation of the ‘Nat’ scheduled caste (SC) status of Ashok Nagar (SC) legislator Jajpal Singh Jajji with immediate effect. This will now lead to his disqualification as MLA from a seat reserved for SC candidates.

    While hearing the writ petition filed by Er Ladduram Kori (the BJP candidate who lost to the-then Congress candidate Jajpal Singh Jajji in the 2018 polls) in 2020, the single judge HC bench headed by Justice GS Ahluwalia directed Ashok Nagar district police superintendent to lodge an FIR against the BJP MLA.

    Jajji fought and won the two polls — the 2018 Assembly polls on a Congress ticket and the 2020 by-election on a BJP ticket — from the same seat using the now-quashed SC status certificate. 

    Senior counsel Sangam Jain (who represented petitioner Ladduram Kori) said, “The HC has quashed the SC certificate, thereby not considering the sitting MLA to be from a Scheduled caste. The HC has also asked the court’s registry to send a copy of the order to the MP Vidhan Sabha Speaker for further action.”

    A cost of Rs 50,000 has also been imposed on the MLA which is to be deposited before the court’s registry within a month, he added.

    Jajji was among the 22 Scindia-loyalist Congress MLAs, who scripted the fall of the 15-month-old Congress government led by Kamal Nath in March 2020. In November 2020, he had won the same Ashok Nagar (SC) seat on a BJP ticket.

    Earlier, on December 7, a single judge bench of the MP High Court in Jabalpur, headed by Justice Nandita Dubey, had set aside and declared void Rahul Singh Lodhi’s 2018 election from the Khargapur seat.

    The court further ordered that as the election of Lodhi is being declared void, he must not be allowed any benefits of this election.

    In the election petition filed in 2019 by Congress candidate Chanda Singh Gour (he had lost to Lodhi in the 2018 polls but had defeated Lodhi in the 2013 polls), it was mentioned that Lodhi’s nomination papers were improperly accepted, which had materially affected the poll’s result.

    Chanda had alleged that Lodhi submitted two nomination forms with different information regarding his status as partner in the Firm, M/s R.S. Constructions, Tikamgarh. The firm had a contract with MPRRDA which amounts to corrupt practices as enumerated under Section 100 (1) (b) & (d)(i) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, she stated.

    She also alleged that Lodhi, in his 2018 poll nomination papers, suppressed the fact that the High Court had imposed a cost of Rs 10,000 in Election Petition No.11/2014 (Rahul Singh Lodhi Vs. Chanda Singh Gour), and had not given the cost to the petitioner, thus he was guilty of non-compliance of the order of HC under the provisions of Section 100 (1)(d)(iv) RPA Act 1951.

    Additionally, as per the HC order, the last date for submission of the nomination paper was November 9, 2018, but the returning officer had accepted Lodhi’s documents after that date.

    In the 230-member-strong Vidhan Sabha in Madhya Pradesh, the ruling BJP presently has 130 members (including an Independent, an SP MLA, and a BSP MLA who joined the saffron party in June 2022), while the prime opposition Congress has 96 MLAs.

    BHOPAL: The ruling BJP has suffered twin jolts within five days, as two of its legislators, including ex-Chief Minister Uma Bharti’s nephew Rahul Singh Lodhi and union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia-loyalist Jajpal Singh Jajji, are likely to lose their Vidhan Sabha membership, following orders from the Madhya Pradesh High Court.

    The principal bench of the MP High Court in Jabalpur, had on December 7, set aside the 2018 election of Khargapur (Tikamgarh) MLA Rahul Singh Lodhi over improper filing of nomination papers.

    On the other hand, the High Court’s Gwalior bench on Monday ordered the quashing and confiscation of the ‘Nat’ scheduled caste (SC) status of Ashok Nagar (SC) legislator Jajpal Singh Jajji with immediate effect. This will now lead to his disqualification as MLA from a seat reserved for SC candidates.

    While hearing the writ petition filed by Er Ladduram Kori (the BJP candidate who lost to the-then Congress candidate Jajpal Singh Jajji in the 2018 polls) in 2020, the single judge HC bench headed by Justice GS Ahluwalia directed Ashok Nagar district police superintendent to lodge an FIR against the BJP MLA.

    Jajji fought and won the two polls — the 2018 Assembly polls on a Congress ticket and the 2020 by-election on a BJP ticket — from the same seat using the now-quashed SC status certificate. 

    Senior counsel Sangam Jain (who represented petitioner Ladduram Kori) said, “The HC has quashed the SC certificate, thereby not considering the sitting MLA to be from a Scheduled caste. The HC has also asked the court’s registry to send a copy of the order to the MP Vidhan Sabha Speaker for further action.”

    A cost of Rs 50,000 has also been imposed on the MLA which is to be deposited before the court’s registry within a month, he added.

    Jajji was among the 22 Scindia-loyalist Congress MLAs, who scripted the fall of the 15-month-old Congress government led by Kamal Nath in March 2020. In November 2020, he had won the same Ashok Nagar (SC) seat on a BJP ticket.

    Earlier, on December 7, a single judge bench of the MP High Court in Jabalpur, headed by Justice Nandita Dubey, had set aside and declared void Rahul Singh Lodhi’s 2018 election from the Khargapur seat.

    The court further ordered that as the election of Lodhi is being declared void, he must not be allowed any benefits of this election.

    In the election petition filed in 2019 by Congress candidate Chanda Singh Gour (he had lost to Lodhi in the 2018 polls but had defeated Lodhi in the 2013 polls), it was mentioned that Lodhi’s nomination papers were improperly accepted, which had materially affected the poll’s result.

    Chanda had alleged that Lodhi submitted two nomination forms with different information regarding his status as partner in the Firm, M/s R.S. Constructions, Tikamgarh. The firm had a contract with MPRRDA which amounts to corrupt practices as enumerated under Section 100 (1) (b) & (d)(i) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, she stated.

    She also alleged that Lodhi, in his 2018 poll nomination papers, suppressed the fact that the High Court had imposed a cost of Rs 10,000 in Election Petition No.11/2014 (Rahul Singh Lodhi Vs. Chanda Singh Gour), and had not given the cost to the petitioner, thus he was guilty of non-compliance of the order of HC under the provisions of Section 100 (1)(d)(iv) RPA Act 1951.

    Additionally, as per the HC order, the last date for submission of the nomination paper was November 9, 2018, but the returning officer had accepted Lodhi’s documents after that date.

    In the 230-member-strong Vidhan Sabha in Madhya Pradesh, the ruling BJP presently has 130 members (including an Independent, an SP MLA, and a BSP MLA who joined the saffron party in June 2022), while the prime opposition Congress has 96 MLAs.

  • MP: After Uma Bharti’s swipe at Rahul’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, Kamal Nath asks her to join march

    By PTI

    BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath on Saturday invited senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Uma Bharti to join his party’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, which is being led by Rahul Gandhi.

    On Friday, Bharti had claimed the decision on the march was a delayed one and would not benefit Gandhi.

    Queried on this statement, Nath said, “I don’t know why Uma Bharti ji said it was a delayed decision. I am inviting her to join Bharat Jodo Yatra.”

    On another statement of Bharti that those in power must take care of the struggle against inequality that is taking place in Madhya Pradesh and other parts of the country, Nath said he agreed with her.

    “There is need to pay attention to social justice as the country is culturally diverse. People from different social strata have been offering to challenge the BJP on this front and this will grow further till the next election,” Nath asserted.

    Gandhi has undertaken a 3,570-kilometre yatra to connect with people across the country while seeking to strengthen the Congress party, which has suffered successive electoral defeats in the last few years.

    BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath on Saturday invited senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Uma Bharti to join his party’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, which is being led by Rahul Gandhi.

    On Friday, Bharti had claimed the decision on the march was a delayed one and would not benefit Gandhi.

    Queried on this statement, Nath said, “I don’t know why Uma Bharti ji said it was a delayed decision. I am inviting her to join Bharat Jodo Yatra.”

    On another statement of Bharti that those in power must take care of the struggle against inequality that is taking place in Madhya Pradesh and other parts of the country, Nath said he agreed with her.

    “There is need to pay attention to social justice as the country is culturally diverse. People from different social strata have been offering to challenge the BJP on this front and this will grow further till the next election,” Nath asserted.

    Gandhi has undertaken a 3,570-kilometre yatra to connect with people across the country while seeking to strengthen the Congress party, which has suffered successive electoral defeats in the last few years.

  • Babri demolition: Allahabad HC to hear petition challenging acquittal of accused people

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court is set to hear on Monday a revision petition filed against the acquittals of all the 32 accused, including former deputy prime minister L K Advani and senior BJP leader Uma Bharti, in the Babri mosque demolition case.

    The matter was earlier fixed for July 11, but the lawyers for the revisionists sought an adjournment.

    The bench agreed and listed it for Monday with a caution that it would not adjourn the hearing again.

    The bench headed by Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh will hear the petition by two Ayodhya residents – Haji Mahmood Ahmad and Syed Akhlaq Ahmad.

    The two men have alleged that they were witnesses in the trial against the accused and that they were also the victims of the violence.

    The Babri mosque was demolished by karsevaks on December 6, 1992.

    After a long legal battle, the special CBI court on September 30, 2020, pronounced the judgment in the criminal trial and acquitted all the accused, also including the then Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh and senior BJP leaders MM Joshi, Vinay Katiyar, Sadhvi Ritambhara and Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.

    The trial judge had refused to believe newspaper cuttings and video clips as evidence as the originals of the same were not produced, while the entire edifice of the case rested on these pieces of documentary evidence.

    The trial judge also held that the CBI could not produce any evidence that the accused had a meeting with karsevaks in this connection.

    Assailing the findings of the trial court, the revisionists pleaded that the trial court committed an error by not convicting the accused having ample evidence on record.

    “The trial judge did not appreciate the evidence of conspiracy in the right perspective,” they alleged in the petition.

    LUCKNOW: The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court is set to hear on Monday a revision petition filed against the acquittals of all the 32 accused, including former deputy prime minister L K Advani and senior BJP leader Uma Bharti, in the Babri mosque demolition case.

    The matter was earlier fixed for July 11, but the lawyers for the revisionists sought an adjournment.

    The bench agreed and listed it for Monday with a caution that it would not adjourn the hearing again.

    The bench headed by Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh will hear the petition by two Ayodhya residents – Haji Mahmood Ahmad and Syed Akhlaq Ahmad.

    The two men have alleged that they were witnesses in the trial against the accused and that they were also the victims of the violence.

    The Babri mosque was demolished by karsevaks on December 6, 1992.

    After a long legal battle, the special CBI court on September 30, 2020, pronounced the judgment in the criminal trial and acquitted all the accused, also including the then Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh and senior BJP leaders MM Joshi, Vinay Katiyar, Sadhvi Ritambhara and Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.

    The trial judge had refused to believe newspaper cuttings and video clips as evidence as the originals of the same were not produced, while the entire edifice of the case rested on these pieces of documentary evidence.

    The trial judge also held that the CBI could not produce any evidence that the accused had a meeting with karsevaks in this connection.

    Assailing the findings of the trial court, the revisionists pleaded that the trial court committed an error by not convicting the accused having ample evidence on record.

    “The trial judge did not appreciate the evidence of conspiracy in the right perspective,” they alleged in the petition.

  • Farm laws repeal due to BJP workers’ failure to enlighten farmers: Uma Bharti

    By Express News Service

    BHOPAL: Pained by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s November 19 announcement to repeal three farm laws, senior BJP leader and ex-union minister Uma Bharti has blamed the saffron party’s workers for failing to enlighten the farmers on the farm laws.

    In PM’s parliamentary constituency Varanasi for the last four days, the ex-Madhya Pradesh CM tweeted on Monday, “the PM’s November 19 announcement left me speechless, which is why I’m commenting about it after three days.”

    “People like me are pained by what the PM said while announcing the repeal of the three farm laws. If the PM didn’t succeed in educating farmers about the importance of the three farm laws, it’s because of the weakness of all BJP workers. Why did we (BJP workers) fail in connecting and communicating with the farmers on these laws,” Bharti tweeted further.

    “I was particularly pained by the PM’s announcement, as I deeply felt that we (BJP rank and file) failed to face and counter the opposition’s false propaganda on the issue,” Bharti added.

    Among the frontal leaders of the Ayodhya Ram Temple movement, Bharti, however, showered praise on the PM’s leadership, tweeting, “by announcing repeal of the farm laws, the PM has established his greatness. I pray to Lord Kashi Vishwanath that such an exceptional and visionary leader lives long and succeeds in all endeavours.”

    Meanwhile, Bharti’s tweets have given ammo to opposition Congress leaders to attack the ruling BJP.

    “Uma Bharti’s tweets have exposed the real state of the BJP organization. Despite boasting of being training based workers, the BJP workers failed to convince the farmers on the three farm laws. Now the farmers will teach the BJP and its workers the befitting lesson,” ex-MP minister and Madhya Pradesh Congress MLA PC Sharma said.

  • Farm laws repeal shows BJP workers’ failure to explain their benefits: Uma Bharti

    The former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister said the farmers of India have never been satisfied with any of the government's measures so far.

  • Priyanka, Congress leaders don’t have right to speak about democracy, farmers: Uma Bharti

    Priyanka Gandhi was detained in Sitapur (Uttar Pradesh) on Monday on her way to Lakhimpur Kheri, where eight people died and several others were injured on Sunday.

  • ‘Will improve my language’: Madhya Pradesh BJP leader Uma Bharti after ‘slippers’ remark

    By PTI

    BHOPAL: After her controversial remarks that government officials are there only to “pick up our (leaders’) slippers”, senior BJP leader Uma Bharti has written a letter to Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh, saying she will improve her language and also urged him to do so.

    As a video containing Bharti’s critical comments against bureaucracy surfaced on social media on Monday, Singh had criticised her for telling him to speak less, while she herself used “highly objectionable” words against bureaucrats. He had also sought an apology from her over her comments.

    On Tuesday, Bharti in a brief letter to Singh said, “I am deeply hurt by my own words. I used to tell you (Singh) repeatedly that you don’t use moderate language. I will improve my language from now on, if you can do the same, then do it.”

    She also quoted a ‘chaupai’ (verse) from the epic ‘Ramayana’ in her letter to the Congress leader.

    After a video containing Bharti’s critical comments against bureaucracy surfaced on social media, the former Union minister had on Monday expressed regret over her intemperate language used during an interaction with a delegation of representatives from other backward classes (OBCs) at her home in Bhopal.

  • ‘Bureaucracy is meant to pick up our slippers’: Uma Bharti kicks up row, retracts later

    Express News Service

    BHOPAL: The remarks by former Madhya Pradesh CM and former Union minister Uma Bharti kicked up a row on Monday. “The bureaucracy is nothing, but meant to pick up our slippers,” she said.

    “Bureaucracy is nothing… it’s meant to pick up our chappals (slippers). The bureaucracy picks up our slippers. I’ve been in power for 11 years, including as MP CM and then as Union minister, and very well know what the bureaucracy is meant for. It’s we (politicians) who take decisions, only after that the file is moved ahead for processing,” Bharti said while interacting with an OBC delegation at her residence in Bhopal on Saturday. The video of the controversial remark had gone viral on Monday.

    Realizing that her remarks have triggered a row, the politician regretted having used intemperate language. “I regret having used intemperate language though my intentions were good. From my experience, I can tell that honest bureaucracy always gives good company to strong and honest politicians,” Bharti tweeted.

    While there was no reaction from either the MP IAS Association/MP IPS Association, the opposition Congress was quick to target the ruling BJP over the issue.

    “While one of the cabinet ministers of the state Om Prakash Saklecha says it’s the bureaucracy which is running the government, the ex-CM and one of the senior-most BJP leaders in the state, Uma Bharti, is saying that bureaucracy is meant for picking up their slippers. It’s really unfortunate,” state Congress general secretary (media) KK Mishra said.

    Not only did Bharti make a controversial remark against the bureaucracy during the meeting with the OBC delegation, but also appealed to all the people from the OBC castes to unite as a block before demanding any OBC or caste census.

    “Learn from what the Lingayats have done unitedly in Karnataka, none can become CM of Karnataka without their support. Shelve all your differences, unite by worshipping ek devta (one god), following ek puja paddhati (common worshipping practice), and by having roti-beti ka rishta (bread and daughter relationship),” Bharti said.

    She also claimed that other prominent OBC politicians, including Sharad Yadav and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, too have views similar to her over this issue.

    Bharti, one of the frontal leaders of the Ram Temple Movement, also appealed to the OBC delegation to press for caste-based reservation in the private sector. “At a time when everything is being privatised, our efforts should be reservation in the private sector first.”

    On Saturday, she had announced hitting the streets for a total ban on liquor in MP and given time to CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan and state BJP president VD Sharma till January 15 to run a public awareness campaign to make MP a dry state.

    The series of remarks, including the comments on bureaucracy and appealing all OBC groups to unite, is being seen among ruling BJP circles in MP as a conscious effort by Bharti to stay relevant in national politics as a powerful OBC leader and get back into reckoning in politics of MP where over 51% electorate hails from the OBC segment.

    Bharti hails from the Lodhi caste, which is a powerful OBC category, in the Bundelkhand region of both MP and neighbouring UP.