Uma Bharti (born 3 May 1959) is an Indian politician of the Bharatiya Janata Party and a Hindu religious figure who wears the saffron robes of a sadhvi. A fiery speaker, she was one of the most prominent faces of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement in the late 1980s and 1990s. She led the BJP to a sweeping win in Madhya Pradesh in 2003 and was briefly Chief Minister, and she later served as a Union minister in charge of water resources and the cleaning of the Ganga.
Quick Facts
| Full name | Uma Bharti |
| Born | 3 May 1959, Dunda, Tikamgarh district, Madhya Pradesh, India |
| Age | 67 |
| Party | Bharatiya Janata Party |
| Offices | Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh (2003–2004); Union Minister for Water Resources and Ganga Rejuvenation (2014–2017); Drinking Water and Sanitation (2017–2019) |
| Education | Schooling up to the sixth standard |
| Community | Lodhi |
Early Life
Bharti was born into a farming family of the Lodhi community in the Bundelkhand region. As a small child she began reciting the Ramayana and the Gita in public and drew large crowds. Vijaya Raje Scindia of Gwalior became her patron and brought her into politics.
Political Career
She lost her first Lok Sabha election in 1984 and won Khajuraho in 1989, holding it four times. Her speeches made her a star campaigner of the movement to build a Ram temple at Ayodhya. She was present when the Babri Masjid was demolished on 6 December 1992 and was charged with conspiracy; a special court acquitted all the accused in September 2020.
In Atal Bihari Vajpayee‘s government she held Human Resource Development, Tourism, Youth Affairs and Sports, and Coal. In 2003 she led the BJP to a three-quarters majority in Madhya Pradesh, defeating Digvijaya Singh’s Congress government. She resigned as Chief Minister in August 2004 when a court in Karnataka issued a warrant against her in a ten-year-old case over hoisting the national flag at Hubli.
She was expelled from the BJP in 2005 after quarrelling publicly with its leaders, formed her own party and returned in 2011. She was elected to the Uttar Pradesh assembly in 2012 and to the Lok Sabha from Jhansi in 2014, and joined Narendra Modi‘s cabinet. She did not contest in 2019.
Later Years
She has campaigned against liquor shops in Madhya Pradesh and undertaken pilgrimages. She has never married.
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where was Uma Bharti born?
Uma Bharti was born on 3 May 1959 in Dunda, Tikamgarh district, Madhya Pradesh, India and is 67 years old.
Featured image: Uma Bharti, then Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation, speaks at the inauguration of India Water Week, New Delhi, 10 October 2017. Photo by Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, licensed under Government Open Data License – India, via Wikimedia Commons.
