Uma Bharati

Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation
Uma Bharti (born 3 May 1959), often given the honorific Sadhvi, is an Indian politician and Minister for Water Resources,River Development and Ganga Rejunvenation in Union Government of India. Raised by Vijaya Raje Scindia of Gwalior, she became involved with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at a very young age, unsuccessfully contesting her first Parliamentary elections in 1984. In 1989, she successfully contested the Khajuraho seat, and retained it in elections conducted in 1991, 1996 and 1998. In 1999, she switched constituencies and won the Bhopal seat. In the Vajpayee Administration, she held various state-level and cabinet level portfolios of Human Resource Development, Tourism, Youth Affairs & Sports, and finally Coal & Mines. Bharti was one of the most prominent leaders of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement of the 1980s and 90s organized by the BJP and the Vishva Hindu Parishad. She was present at the demolition of the Babri Masjid, and was later indicted by the Liberhan commission for her role in the incident. In the 2003 Assembly polls, she led the BJP to a three-fourths majority in the Madhya Pradesh assembly. She defeated her Congress opponent from the Malehra seat by a 25% margin. She resigned from the post of Chief Minister in August 2004, when an arrest warrant was issued against her regarding the 1994 Hubli riot case.She was re-inducted in the BJP on 7 June 2011. She was tasked with reviving the party in [Uttar Pradesh, ahead of the assembly election in 2012. Subsequently, she was appointed to the position of vice-president along with twelve others, as part of a team created to guide the BJP through the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. On 16 May 2014, she was elected to the Lok Sabha from Jhansi constituency by defeating Chandrapal Yadav of the Samajwadi Party. On 26 May 2014, she was appointed by newly elected Prime Minister, Narendra Modi as the Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation in his cabinet.