BHOPAL: The BJP has unveiled its star campaigner list for the upcoming Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls on November 17, but it conspicuously omitted former Chief Minister Uma Bharti, who had previously led the party to a historic victory in the state in 2003.
The released list boasts prominent names such as PM Narendra Modi, BJP’s National President JP Nadda, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, 15 other Union ministers, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, and UP Deputy Chief Ministers Brijesh Pathak and Keshav Prasad Maurya. It also includes several current and former MP ministers and the State BJP Chief VD Sharma.
Notably, Uma Bharti, who had been a star campaigner for the party in the 2018 assembly polls and the 2020 by-elections, is missing from the roster. Her absence comes just a day after she announced her intention to embark on a pilgrimage to the Himalayas after seeking blessings at temples in her village in MP’s Tikamgarh district.
While Bharti praised the BJP’s accomplishments under the leadership of Shivraj Singh Chouhan, she also raised concerns about issues like the Ken-Betwa inter-river linking project that has been pending since 2017 and inadequate efforts for cow protection and promotion in the state. She lamented the delayed return of the goddess Saraswati idol at Dhar Bhojshala and unresolved status of the gates of the Someshwar Temple in Raisen, despite assurances from a national BJP leader.
Expressing her desire for the BJP to regain power in Madhya Pradesh, Bharti emphasised her support for PM’s leadership but also called for amendments to include OBC, SC, and ST quotas in the legislation that recently granted 33% reservation to women in the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas.