SENIOR BHARATIYA Janata Party (BJP) leader Sushma Swaraj today said she has not been sent by the party to Madhya Pradesh to counter Uma Bharti.
Talking to journalists while filing her nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha elections, she said she did not think of herself as a replacement of Uma Bharti in the State BJP.
When asked how big a challenge she considered Uma Bharti to the party she replied the party accepted the challenge of even the Congress and the Communist Party, hence those who had left the party could not pose a challenge to it.
She said she was elated at filing Rajya Sabha nomination papers from Madhya Pradesh, which had always been on her mind. She had purchased a flat here 21 years ago as she wanted to live here. However, since the flat was on the fourth floor and elders in the family had difficulty in climbing upstairs she had to sell the flat.
When asked if she would not return to the State after being elected to the Rajya Sabha, like many other leaders, she said she would stay here and would continue to remain associated with the State.
She added she had always fulfilled her commitment to her electorate. For an instance, she said, she had promised the electorate in Bellary that she would celebrate a particular festival over there.
{{/usCountry}}She added she had always fulfilled her commitment to her electorate. For an instance, she said, she had promised the electorate in Bellary that she would celebrate a particular festival over there.
{{/usCountry}}Despite her defeat in the elections she had been visiting the place for the last seven years to celebrate the festival, and that too in a particular house. She said she would like to work for development of the state. Her topmost priority would be to get the AIIMS opened here, which she had sanctioned during the erstwhile NDA Government.
She added, the then Chief Minister Digvijay Singh had allotted land for the institute but nothing had moved on the part of the Union Government in the last two years.
She termed the MLAs rebellion, CD and tape scandals in the State BJP here as a transient phase in the party. She added when power came certain problems came with it.