BJP leader Uma Bharti not to contest LS election

BJP leader and Union minister Uma Bharti asserted Friday that she will not contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as she plans to go on an 18-month long pilgrimage from May. She also rejected reports of her desire to contest from a safer seat and not Jhansi, stressing that she had decided way back in 2016 to not fight the general elections this time.

"I had said in 2016 that I will not fight elections as I have to go on a pilgrimage along the shores of Ganga. If I had to fight, I would have contested from Jhansi. I can never change my constituency. People are there proud of me and consider me as a daughter," the 59-year-old leader told PTI. A firebrand Hindutva leader, who is seen to have mellowed down with time, Bharati also asserted that she will contest the 2024 elections and that the party will come to power with a "thumping majority" under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership.

She said she had conveyed her decision to not contest the coming Lok Sabha election to BJP general secretary (organisation) Ram Lal, who, she added, asked her to campaign for the party before undertaking the pilgrimage. Bharati said she will campaign for the BJP till May 5.

"The party has given me a lot from the post of chief minister to that of a cabinet minister. I have held all organisational responsibility except that of the BJP's president. It is my duty not to embarrass the party. I will campaign till May 5," she said.