‘Doesn’t hold patents on Ram, Hanuman': Uma Bharti's stinging remark on BJP

Uma Bharti's statement came days after she courted trouble for the BJP by telling the Lodhi community that they were free to vote for any party by taking their own interest into account.

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Uma Bharti said her party does not "hold patents" on Lord Ram, Hanuman or the Hindu religion and anybody can have faith in them. In a series of tweets, Uma Bharti said it was not the BJP which inculcated in her the faith in Ram, the Tricolour, Ganga and cow, but it was "already within" her.

Senior BJP leader Uma Bharti.(HT_PRINT)

"The BJP does not hold patents on Ram and Hanuman or the Hindu religion. Anyone can have faith in them. The difference is that our faith is beyond political gains," she said.

Bharti also questioned the purpose of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra while highlighting the BJP-led government's decision to abrogate Article 370 to end the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. "But where is Bharat breaking? We have abrogated Article 370. What was breaking the country was Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK). Rahul Gandhi should take this yatra to PoK," she said.

Her stinging statement on the BJP came days after she courted trouble for her party by telling the Lodhi community that they were free to vote for any party by taking their own interest into account.

Speaking at a convention of marriageable boys and girls of her community, Bharti said she was loyal soldier of the BJP but the people of her community should take a decision on the basis of their own interests.

“I will come, I will come on the platform of my party, I will ask for votes. I never say that if you are a Lodhi then vote for the BJP. I tell everyone to vote for the BJP because I am a loyal soldier of my party. But I will expect a little from you that you will be a loyal soldier of the party,” she said.

“You have to see the surroundings and look for your interests. If you are not a party worker or a party voter, you have to decide for yourself. We are in the bond of love but from my side, you are completely free from the political bonding.”