Uma Bharti takes break from active politics to focus on Ram temple, Ganga

Union Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Uma Bharti on Tuesday announced to take a break from active politics to focus on the issue of Ram temple and cleaning of Ganga river. She also said that she would not contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in 2019.

Speaking to ANI, Bharti said she has taken permission from the top party leaders for her decision. "I would only work for the Ram temple and Ganga for the next one and a half years," she added. She is currently a member of Lok Sabha from Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh.

Uma's decision comes days after Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj announced that she would not contest the 2019 Lok Sabha polls due to her health issues.

Talking about the Ram temple issue, Bharti said that the agitation over the matter is going on due to delay in the court's judgment over the issue. She also blamed the Congress for vitiating the atmosphere in the country and added that a positive atmosphere has to be rebuilt for an ordinance to construct the Ram temple.

In her comment on the allegation of tampering electronic voting machines (EVMs), former Madhya Pradesh chief minister said, "It is the duty of the Election Commission of India to clarify everybody's doubt on the voting machines. However, there are a lot of countries who are much more technologically advanced but don't use EVMs for elections."

Speaking about the incident in Bulandshahr, she said that the state government should tackle the matter diligently. "I want the state government to deal with this in full compliance with the rule of law. It is good that an SIT probe has been formed to probe the matter. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath should have paid more attention when the gathering was so huge," she added.

Earlier on Monday, Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh was killed during clashes, which broke out between the police and a mob over alleged illegal cow slaughter in Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr district.