I smell Sonia Gandhi's revenge: Uma Bharti

Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Uma Bharti on Wednesday held Congress chief Sonia Gandhi responsible for the reopening of a 10-year old criminal case against her and said she 'smelt the revenge' by Gandhi in it.

"I smell the revenge of Sonia Gandhi. By seeking revenge against me, she forgot she is insulting the tricolour. To protect the honour of the tricolour, I am ready to face any consequence," the firebrand leader said.

Asked if Gandhi was behind the reopening of the case, she said, "Definitely. How was it (Karnataka government's earlier decision to withdraw the case against her) changed in one week? I was the person who blocked Sonia Gandhi from becoming prime minister."

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"I believe the lady who belonged to the Congress but does not belong to the country... to take revenge against me... (the case was reopened)...but she forgot she is insulting the national tricolour," Bharti said.

"I am ready to be crucified for the honour of the nation," she said, when asked if she was ready to be jailed, as she entered Karnataka from Miraj in Maharashtra in early this morning.

Asked why she had decided against seeking bail, Bharti said, "I don't believe I have done any crime by hoisting the national flag."

She also criticised Karnataka Chief Minister N Dharam Singh for not informing her about the state government's decision to send the police team to execute the non-bailable warrant (NBW) against her.

"Courtesy demanded that he could have talked to me, which he did not do. I was also the chief minister. He could have spoken to me. He did not make me aware of it (sending the team)," she said.

"What I cannot imagine even now is what was the haste in sending the (police) team to arrest me. I am not able to understand. When (Pakistan President) Musharraf and Vajpayee can talk...Dharam Singh could not talk to me."

Asked whether she was aware of the NBW when she was in Bangalore recently, she said, "I was aware of it. But it (the decision to reopen the case) was unexpected."

To another query, she said, "If I did not want to be arrested, I would not have resigned. I resigned because I knew the arrest will be there any minute."

"As chief minister, I did not want to be arrested because that will bring disrespect to the chair. So I resigned and it means I am ready for any consequences."

Asked when she would start her "Tiranga Yatra" from Hubli to Jallianwala Bhag, she said, "The party has to make the arrangements. Whenever they tell me, I will start the yatra."