They say nothing lasts forever. Those who have begun the journey would retire, whether or not they complete their goals. But how you retire is entirely upto you. You can either retire with your head held high, or in complete disgrace. Unfortunately, for ex CM of Madhya Pradesh, Uma Bharti, her retirement is certainly not in her prime.
In a press conference to the media in Jhansi, Uma Bharti has officially announced her reluctance to contest any further elections from now on. In her words, she has opted out of contesting elections owing to age and health issues. The MP from Jhansi in short, has officially announced her retirement from active politics.
Uma Bharti was one of the strongest voices behind the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. Along with the likes of leaders like Lal Krishna Advani, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and Murali Manohar Joshi etc. It was Uma Bharti, who was unequivocally behind the call for demolishing the Babri Masjid and reconstructing the Ram Janmbhoomi Mandir.
When the legal authorities pressed criminal charges on the accused, and reinstated a criminal conspiracy case against them, instead of being cowed down, it was Uma Bharti who fought back in style, and boldly declared that even if her actions took her to jail, she won’t regret it all. She was appointed as a Cabinet Minister in the Vajpayee administration in the first NDA Government. It was Uma Bharti who opened the doors of Madhya Pradesh for BJP in 2003, when they won a massive majority in the assembly elections, and Uma Bharti was subsequently appointed as the Chief Minister.
However, her rise to the Chief Minister was ironically the beginning for her downfall. Only a year after her rise to power, in 2004, Uma Bharti was forced to resign as CM, in connection with her role in Hubli riots. Soon enough, she had a tussle with the high command in BJP, and in 2005, Uma was expelled for ‘anti party activities, and it was not until 2011 that she was reinstated in BJP.
Unfortunately, Uma failed to grasp this opportunity with both hands. Even though she reorganized the cadres and won important seats for the party, she spoiled the entire hard work of her previous tenures as the Minister of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga rejuvenation. As a minister of the same, she was deputed with one of the core projects that BJP had promised to take up in their manifesto, ‘Namami Gange’, which would oversee a revolutionary cleanup of the polluted river Ganga.
As soon as PM Modi assumed office, he laid out the plan of ‘Namami Gange’, which were to cover the following:-
1.) Ensure continuous and unpolluted flow of River Ganga
2.) Restore the ecological and geological integrity of the River Gang
3.) Completely clean up the river by 2020
Despite millions of rupees having been pumped into the project, by 2017, not even half of the tasks envisaged were even started, forget them getting accomplished. The findings by CPCB proved to be the final nail in the coffin, who declared that Gangajal is not even fit for bathing, forget drinking. Had it not been for Nitin Gadkari, who took over the reins from Uma in 2017, the project would’ve jeopardized BJP’s chances in 2019. As of now, what should’ve been done by 2016 is now visible, according to the latest findings, in 2018.
With that, Uma Bharti has unofficially announced her arrival into the Margdarshak Mandal, it is also a good development for the party as Uma Ji was well past her prime.
This is also a brilliant opportunity for the Young and Promising leaders of BJP to seize the opportunity and carve a niche for themselves.