Like Sushma, Uma Bharti will not fight 2019 LS polls

Bhopal: Following in the footsteps of external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, Union minister for drinking water and sanitation Uma Bharti declared on Tuesday that she will not contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Ms Bharti said she wanted to focus fully on the Ram temple construction in Ayodhya and the cleaning of the Ganga all through 2019, and hence decided to opt out of the coming parliamentary election. “I have already informed BJP president Amit Shah, seeking his permission to withdraw from the 2019 elections”, she told reporters here.

The firebrand saffron leader made it clear, however, that she will not quit politics any time soon. “I will remain in active politics. I will remain in the BJP forever,” she said.