BJP does not hold patents on Ram, Hinduism...: Uma Bharti's stinging remark at saffron party

New Delhi, Dec 31: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Uma Bharti has said her party does not ''hold patents'' on Lord Ram, Hanuman or the Hindu religion and anybody can have faith in them, but 'our faith is beyond political gains'.

In a statement issued on Friday, the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister also 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. ''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.

On her demand for a ban on liquor in the state, she said she has drawn a line that she will do what the BJP decides, as reported by news agency PTI.

Bharti also questioned the purpose of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra. ''But where is Bharat breaking? We (the BJP-led NDA government) have abrogated Article 370 (to end the special status of Jammu and Kashmir). What was breaking the country was Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK). Rahul Gandhi should take this yatra to PoK,'' she said. She also claimed that the Congress will be decimated in the 2023 Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls.

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.

Bharti made remark while addressing a program Yuvak-Yuvati Parichay Sammelan organised at Manas Bhawan in the state capital, Bhopal on December 25. Addressing the people belonging to the Lodhi Community, she said, "I will come on the stage of my party, I will ask for the votes of the people, I never say that you are Lodhi, you vote for BJP. I tell everyone to vote for BJP as I am a loyal soldier of my party. I would not expect a bit from you (Lodhi community) that you will be a loyal soldier of the party."

"You (Lodhi community) have to see the interests around you because if you are not a party worker then you have to decide about yourself only after seeing all the things. We are bound in the bond of love, but in political bond, you are completely free from my side," Bharti added.

Notably, Lodhi community has been the core vote of the BJP for a long time, but for the last few days, the leaders of Lodhi community were running away from the BJP. Since the expulsion of Lodhi leader Pritam Lodhi from the party, many Lodhi leaders are angry with BJP.