Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Union minister Uma Bharti expressed unhappiness over the cabinet expansion in Madhya Pradesh, saying that her suggestions were ignored.
Bharti, who appeared before a special CBI court in Lucknow to record her statement in the Ayodhya demolition case on Thursday, said that the caste balance was ignored during the cabinet expansion.
Bharti is accused of inciting a mob to demolish the Babri mosque in Ayodhya.
“I am glad that Jyotiraditya Scindia switched to the BJP along with his colleagues and the Congress was destroyed. But then ignoring my suggestions while forming the cabinet is an insult to all those whom I am associated with,” Bharti told media persons.
“I have to speak to Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, Suhas Bhagat and VD Sharma to amend the list accordingly,” the BJP leader said.
On Thursday, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan expanded his cabinet, adding 28 new faces. Among them were a dozen of Scindia’s loyalists while several BJP leaders were ignored.
This is perhaps the first cabinet in Madhya Pradesh where 12 non-MLAs have been included as ministers. All are former Congressmen, mostly from Scindia camp, and were obliged with ministerial berths.
Uma Bharti reiterated that she was ready to die for “Ganga, Tiranga and Gau” as these were the pride of India. She said that she had no regrets for what happened at Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, but added that “no one planned to demolish the structure”.
Besides Bharti, the court is set to record the statements of BJP honchos including former deputy prime minister LK Advani, former Union minister MM Joshi and former chief minister of UP, Kalyan Singh, via video conferencing.
Earlier on June 29, Sadhvi Rithambara was questioned by the special CBI court over her alleged involvement in the demolition of Babri mosque in Ayodhya.