THE RISING SUN?: Expelled BJP leader Uma Bharti holding the new party flag at the launching of the Bhartiya Janshakti Party in Ujjain on Sunday. Photo: A. M. Faruqui

UJJAIN: The former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Uma Bharti, on Sunday formally launched her new party — the Bharatiya Janshakti Party — and announced the names of its top office bearers.

Ms. Bharti took her party's flag to the sanctum sanctorum of the Mahakal temple early on Sunday to offer prayers. She later announced the formation of the party outside the temple. She also unveiled the party flag, saffron in colour with a bright yellow sun at the centre.

Ms. Bharti said she had borrowed the saffron colour from her parent party's flag as it symbolised its atman (true spirit). She said the lotus, the BJP's symbol, had a direct link with the sun, which symbolised shakti (power). The lotus cannot blossom without the sun shining bright, she added.

Placing her hand on the flag, Ms. Bharti pledged that she would serve her party with her sweat and blood and do everything to raise the glory of the Indian tricolour throughout the world.While Ms. Bharti would be heading the party, Sanghpriya Gautam has been nominated party vice-president, Raghunandan Sharma general secretary and Anita Singh treasurer.

Ms. Bharti said she was inspired by Vikramaditya — the ancient ruler of Awanti — and the great Parmar rulers. Emphasising that ideology was sacred, she said she would carry forward the ideology of the Bharatiya Janata Party through the new party. Ms. Bharti said the BJP leaders had started believing that they were "bigger than the party."

The party workers had done everything to strengthen the BJP, but it had now been hijacked by a handful of people and the party was paying a heavy price for this.

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