Tackling crime and corruption will be the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) main agenda for the 2012 Uttar Pradesh elections, but Hindutva will remain its "driving force", the party's newly-inducted leader Uma Bharti said on Wednesday.
"In terms of corruption, Uttar Pradesh is on top. There is no law and order in the state that has become a highly insecure place for women. Considering this, it has been decided that the party's political agenda for the forthcoming elections will be corruption and crime," Uma Bharti told reporters at a press conference.
"I want to emphasise that Hindutva will continue to remain our guiding and driving force...Hindutva is my lifeline and so of the nation," added Uma Bharti. She was reinducted into the BJP earlier this month, nearly six years after being expelled for defying the party leadership.
She has been entrusted with the task of party's poll preparations in Uttar Pradesh.
Accusing chief minister Mayawati of not being able to "generate terror in the minds of criminals", Uma Bharti said: "It's shocking and surprising that not only the policemen, even the ministers and public representatives of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) are involved in criminal activities."
"No one other than Mayawati should be blamed for all this. We will make every effort to end Mayawati's misrule in the state," she said.
Asked whether Other Backward Classes (OBC) leaders, including Gopinath Munde, were being sidelined in the party, Uma Bharti replied: "There is a long list of leaders in the BJP who are backward and holding top positions. Be it Narendra Modi, Sushil Modi or BS Yeddyurappa, all OBC leaders are being given respect in the party."
She also condemned Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for justifying the post-midnight crackdown on yoga guru Baba Ramdev's gathering in New Delhi.
