Uma Bharti is an Indian politician who currently serves as the Cabinet Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation in the Union Government of India. She became involved with the Bharatiya Janata Party at a young age, unsuccessfully contesting her first parliamentary elections in 1984.In 2003, she was elected as Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister.

Uma Bharti was born on 3 May 1959 in Dunda, Tikamgarh District in the state of Madhya Pradesh to a family of peasants. She attended school up until the sixth standard. As a child, she displayed considerable interest in religious texts like the Bhagvad Gita which led to her being seen as a "spiritual" child. She began to give religious discourses while still a child, which brought her into contact with Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia, who would later become her political mentor. She describes herself in her youth as a "religious missionary".

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With the support of Vijaya Raje Scindia, Bharti became involved with the BJP in Madhya Pradesh while still in her twenties. In 1984, she contested Lok Sabha elections for the first time but lost as the INC saw a surge in support following the assassination of Indira Gandhi. In 1989, she won in the Khajuraho Lok Sabha constituency and retained the seat in the elections of 1991, 1996, and 1998.

Bharti rose to national prominence when she became one of the major faces of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, alongside L. K. Advani and others. Her fiery speeches are credited with helping the movement achieve its momentum. In December 1992, she was one of several prominent Sangh Parivar figures present at a rally in Ayodhya that developed into a riot, culminating in the demolition of the Babri Mosque. Bharti was indicted for inciting a mob to violence by the Liberhan Commission that probed the incident. Bharti has denied that she incited the mob but says she does not regret it and that she is willing to take "moral responsibility" for the demolition. She acknowledges that the BJP reaped massive political benefits from the incident. In April 2017, the Supreme Court of India reinstated a criminal conspiracy case against Bharti and other BJP leaders.

She served as the Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation from 26 May 2014 to 1 September 2017. She became the Minister of drinking water and sanitation on 3 September 2017.

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