Monday, October 17 2005 15:54 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Bhopal: Amidst mounting pressure from Uma Bharti loyalists demanding her return as Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today (Oct 17, 2005) ruled out immediate change in leadership, but said it will hold discussions will disgruntled MLAs and Ministers who reportedly sent a letter making the demand.

"Bulal Gaur is the Chief Minister and will continue to remain so. Party's central leadership had made it clear on number of occasions that there were no talks about a change of guard in Madhya Pradesh," state party President Shivraj Singh Chouhan told reporters after a meeting of functionaries.

He claimed that he has not received any written communication from party MLAs for convening legislature party meeting.

Referring to a letter by MLAs seeking removal of Gaur, Chouhan said, "It would be inappropriate to comment on it before the signatures of MLAs and Ministers are verified and discussions are carried out with each one of them over it."

About MLAs making public their demand, the state BJP President said the matter will be probed and if necessary, disciplinary action will be taken against those found guilty.

Asked whether some Ministers summoned by the party today were supporters of Bharti, Chouhan said, "They are ministers of BJP."

To a query, he said, "We are in constant touch with central leaders, including state party in-charge Arun Jaitley."

Chouhan was briefing reporters after a meeting of senior party functionaries including state General Secretary Kaptan Singh Solanki and MP Kailash Joshi, called in wake of around 50 MLAs and some ministers gathering at Bharti's residence yesterday (Oct 16, 2005) and voicing their grudge against Gaur.