Ranchi: The final decision about revoking Uma Bharati's suspension from the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) lies with party president L K Advani, BJP general secretary Rajnath Singh said.

"I know about her letter (that she had read out before the media), but the final decision lies with the party chief (L K Advani)," Singh told newsmen in Ranchi today (Nov 20, 2004).

He was replying to a query whether the BJP's national executive meeting beginning in Ranchi on Nov 24, 2004 would consider revoking Bharati's suspension following her overtures.

The suspended BJP leader told her supporters on Nov 16, 2004 in an open letter to maintain silence on the disciplinary action against her and said she does not want to turn Madhya Pradesh into a "venue for show of my strength".

Describing Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani as "symbols of clean politics and development," she said, "We all have worked hard to reach this stage."

The letter, from her spiritual sojourn in Kedarnath and released to the media in Delhi, came six days after her sudden suspension from the party following a spat with Advani at the first meeting of the party's new office-bearers in full glare of TV cameras.

Bharti had showed signs of softening up after having given similar indications in a letter to Advani in which she had compared herself to a "daughter being thrown out of the house on the day of Dhanteras".