Bureaucracy is there to pick up slippers, says Uma Bharti stirring controversy, later apologises

Uma Bharti. File pic

Former Union Minister and BJP leader Uma Bharti's recent remarks on the bureaucracy that their job is to "pick up chappals" kicked a storm but today she issued an apology as well as a clarification in a series of tweets.

The video which went viral is reported to be from a media interaction held on September 18.

In the video, the BJP leader is heard saying, "Bureaucracy is nothing. Bureaucracy is there to pick up chappals (slippers). It picks up our slippers. We only allow that."

She further said, "Why do you think bureaucracy controls politicians? No, it is talked about in private first, and then the bureaucracy makes a file and brings it. Ask us, I have been a minister at the Centre for 11 years, have been the chief minister. First, we have a discussion and then the file is processed."

"It is all nonsense that they control things. They cannot do that. What is their aukat (standing)? We are giving them a salary, we are giving them posting, we are giving them promotions and demotion. They cannot do anything on their own. The real thing is that we do our politics under the pretext of bureaucracy," said the former Union Minister.

Today, the BJP leader in a series of tweets apologised for the "uncontrolled" words that she used in the video and said that she was speaking in "defense of the bureaucracy".

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Issuing her clarification Bharti said in a tweet, "The day before yesterday at my residence in Bhopal, I met a delegation of backward classes. This meeting was not a formal one. The video of that entire conversation has gone viral in the media."

"I am thankful to the media that they showed my complete video because I was speaking in defense of the bureaucracy," she said in another tweet.

The BJP leader further clarified, "Some of us leaders, the incompetent leaders sitting in power, take the pretext of bureaucracy to avoid their inefficiency that "we are very good but the bureaucracy does not allow us to do good work, whereas the truth is that honest bureaucracy supports a strong, true and well-intentioned leader sitting in power. This is my experience."

"I am sorry, I used uncontrolled language when my expressions were good. I learned this lesson from today that controlled language should be used even in informal conversations with a limited number of people," she added.

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