Shivraj Singh talking to me through media, says Uma Bharti

Bhopal: Senior BJP leader Uma Bharti on Monday said that Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, with whom she shared a cordial relationship, has stopped interacting with her directly and replies to her through the media.

She was referring to Chouhan's recent statement that he will close down liquor shops if people stop drinking.

"I have shared a relationship of respect and affection with respected elder brother Shivraj Singh Chouhan ji from 1984 to March 2022. While going to the office or even if I was on a visit to the Himalayas or if he remembered any of my religious songs, Shivraj ji would meet or telephone me. During the past two years, during every meeting, I have discussed liquor prohibition with him. But now that the matter has come out in public, why has my brother stopped talking to me? Why is he speaking through the media?" Bharti tweeted.

The former chief minister has again made a string of suggestions to stop the illegal sale of liquor which includes serving liquor in open spaces adjacent to liquor shops and not opening liquor shops where locals, especially women, oppose them as they are the ones who have voted the BJP to power in the state.

Replying to Chouhan's statement that "If people stop drinking, I will close down liquor shops," Bharti said that stopping the illegal sale of liquor is the responsibility of the police and the administration and an issue of law and order.

Taking a jibe at her, senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh said: "Very basic differences regarding liquor ban between Uma ji and mamu ji (referring to Shivraj) have come to the fore. BJP central and state leaders should make the policy on the issue clear."

Uma Bharti has been advocating for total prohibition in the state for more than a year now. She has repeatedly announced dates for her ground campaign on the issue and then deferred it, saying that both CM Chouhan and state BJP president Vishnu Dutt Sharma were sensitive leaders and agreed with her on the issue.

Uma Bharti posted a series of tweets on April 1, saying that she was ashamed that the state government was earning revenue by playing with the lives and honour of the sons and daughters of the state.