: Union minister Uma Bharati on Saturday issued a veiled warning to actors Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan saying if they "make an ideological statement wrapped in politics", they should "be prepared for a reaction (from) the other side".Both actors had recently criticised the growing intolerance in the country, triggering attacks mainly from BJP and Sangh representatives and sympathisers."There's Aamir, Shah Rukh, Saif (Ali Khan) and another four or five actors. I must say one thing about them. If an actor remains an actor, everybody likes them, adherents of every political ideology like them," Uma said on the ABP News show Press Conference."But when you make an ideological statement wrapped in politics, be prepared for a reaction. Don't say that I have the right to speak - in that case, the other side too has the right to react."It wasn't clear why Uma had named Saif, who is not known to have made any public complaint against intolerance. Rather, his wife Kareena had last November frowned on the trend of writers and filmmakers returning their awards in protest at intolerance.Uma, minister for water resources, river development and Ganga rejuvenation, clarified that she was not accusing the actors of trying to defame the Narendra Modi government. "But yes, their words have affected India's image," she said.She added that actors should confine themselves to acting or branch out into social work like Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie had done."But if you want to remain an actor and enjoy adoration - while hating criticism and demanding freedom of expression at the same time - know that you will not get a package of these three things together," Uma said.Asked about the communally provocative statements made by BJP politicians such as minister Niranjan Jyoti and MP Sakshi Maharaj in the recent past, she said: "They are close to us. I do not wish to speak (about them) in an open forum."The former Madhya Pradesh chief minister underplayed her differences with Modi, pointing out that she had not been in the party when she criticised the then Gujarat chief minister."I then headed my own party and had decided to field candidates in the 2007 Gujarat Assembly polls," said Uma, who had been expelled from the BJP in 2005 after a falling out with L.K. Advani but was taken back six years later."But when I saw the all-round development in the state, I withdrew my candidates and criticism of Modiji."Uma said that when Modi was contesting the 2014 general election as the BJP's candidate for Prime Minister, she had told him how the Congress was "misusing" and "politicising" her alleged comments against him."Modiji graciously told me not to worry about it or respond to it," she said.Uma deflected a question about Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar's dare to the BJP to announce a likely date for the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya."I would be happy if Nitish Kumar and Mulayam Singh Yadav take the lead in convincing all concerned about the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya," she said. "The Ram mandir is a resolution of the entire country: it will be fulfilled."Asked why she had been keeping a low profile and avoiding controversies, Uma joked that she had transformed from a "firebrand" to a "water brand"."The enormous and spiritual task of cleaning the Ganga has brought a degree of calmness in me. I am working with a sense of purpose," she said.She claimed that industrial effluents, and not religious rituals or immersions of ashes of the dead, were what was polluting the Ganga.