MP a den of criminal activities: Uma

Bhopal, Sep 22 (UNI) Bharatiya Jan Shakti Founder-President and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Uma Bharti today condemned the wave of blasts in various places including Delhi and also wondered why Madhya Pradesh had become a den of criminal activities plus a ''refuge'' of the corrupt.

''Madhya Pradesh is the country's heartland but despite that naxal and separatist activities have accelerated in it,'' she said here while addressing a mammoth gathering at the historic Lal Parade Ground to mark the conclusion of a 'Suraaj Sankalp' (Resolve for Good Governance) Rally.

Training guns at the Fourth Estate, Ms Bharti claimed that she had paid three visits to every assembly constituency in the state but she was saddened that comparatively less was printed and telecast about the visits.

''After the polls, if I get a chance I will ask Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former deputy premier L K Advani to furnish an account of the Rs 1.5 crore spent on feeding a mere 5,000 people who gathered here for the release of the Hindi version of his autobiography 'My Country My Life','' she said.

Such spending was unjustified in a state where children were dying of malnutrition, Ms Bharti felt while adding that BJP spokesman Prakash Jawadekar was recently caught on camera shaking a champagne bottle at a private function.

Earlier, an impoverished aged woman, a youth and an old man released a book on alleged corruption during four-and-a-half years of BJP rule in Madhya Pradesh. Several office-bearers and workers of other parties entered BJS ranks.

Among those present were BJS Executive President Sangh Priya Gautam, General Secretary (Organisation) Amar Singh and state President Ashok Tripathi. Workers resolved to create a state free of fear, hunger and corruption.

Ms Bharti will submit a memorandum to Governor Balram Jakhar -- this evening -- about Madhya Pradesh facing a situation akin to a financial emergency.

UNI AKS-AC 1931