A reluctant Uma eyeing Khajuraho, Damoh seats in MP

Bhopal: Perturbed by the change in political scenario in Uttar Pradesh after the SP-BSP tie up, a reluctant Union minister Uma Bharti is eying for a safe seat in Madhya Pradesh. Uma Bharti, who won the 2014 LS polls from Jhansi seat, had announced that she would not contest the 2019 polls.

However, sources close to Uma said though she has written to BJP chief Amit Shah stating she would not contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, she is not averse to contesting from MP.

Sources said she is eying her native seat of Khajuraho or Damoh.

Three days ago, Bharti wrote to Amit Shah expressing her desire not to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

She urged Shah to officially announce that she would not contest the 2019 polls. The day central election committee of the BJP met, Uma had tweeted stating that her name should not be considered.

Uma Bharti also tweeted that she wants to spend the next one and half year on the banks of river Ganga. She said she would campaign for party candidates and discharge all responsibility assigned to her by the party leadership.

But, highly placed party sources said, no one is taking Uma’s letter seriously.

Sources said Uma was facing anti-incumbency in Jhansi. Besides, she was also aware of the formidable BSP- SP combination in Uttar Pradesh making Lok Sabha elections an uphill task in the politically volatile state. There is a sizeable vote bank of Dalit- Yadav and Muslims who support SP and BSP, they said.

Besides, the voters in Jhansi have also been reminding her of the promise of a separate state of Bundelkhand which she had promised within three years of coming to power. Another promise made by her was of employment- an issue which is hurting the NDA government.

This is mainly the reason why she wants to return to the MP’s part of Bundelkhand – preferably Khajuraho, which she had represented four times from 1989 to 1998 in the past or Damoh. Her one time close associate Prahalad Patel is sitting MP from Damoh.

“Both these seats have a large number of lodhi voters. Her nephew Siddharth is an MLA from Khargapur assembly segment, a part of Khajuraho Lok Sabha seat,” party sources said.

The Khajuraho LS seat is vacant after the sitting MP Nagendra Singh won the 2018 MP assembly elections. Now, a wafer-thin margin separating the ruling Congress and BJP in MP assembly, the part high command is not willing to draw any MLA for the LS poll arena.