BJP appoints Uma Bharti as party's Vice-president after she 'opts out' of poll fray

New Delhi, Mar 23: The BJP on Saturday appointed Union minister Uma Bharti as the party's vice president. Bharti had decided not to contest in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, saying that she was 'not interested'.

The announcement was made by Union health minister JP Nadda while releasing BJP's another list of 48 candidates.

Bharti, who represents Jhansi in the Lok Sabha, was brought in as a senior office bearer after she conveyed to the BJP leadership her wish to not contest the coming general elections.

"I had announced this way back in 2016. If I had to fight, I would have contested from Jhansi. I can never change my constituency. People there are proud of me, and they consider me like their own daughter," news agency PTI quoted her as saying on Friday. The Union Minister, however, promised to campaign for the BJP until May.

Union Minister Sushma Swaraj had also expressed her wish to refrain from contesting the Lok Sabha elections on grounds of ill-health.

The Hindutva leader has said she wants to go on a 18-month-long pilgrimage from May.