Monday, November 28 2005 14:51 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Bhopal: Fiery BJP leader, Uma Bharti arrived here today (Nov 28, 2005) amidst protest by her supporters over the rejection by party leaders of their demand for her return as Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister.

Bharti, who arrived here ahead of BJP Legislature Party meeting convened later in the day to formally elect state party president Shivraj Singh Chouhan as its leader, was welcomed by her supporters, who raised slogans in her favour, claiming that she was the leader of all party workers in the state.

"Umaji is certainly the leader of BJP workers in the state. She has the support of all the 172 party MLA", BJP MLA Harishankar Khatik told reporters outside her residence.

To a query, if her name will be proposed for the post of Chief Minister at the legislature party meet, he said "this is an internal party matter. What happens in the meeting still remains to be seen".

A large number of workers, including around six MLAs and former Union Minister Prahlad Patel had gathered at Bharti's residence since morning planning their future strategy.

While the workers had been terming the selection of Chouhan as `undemocratic', the leaders refused to make any statement about it.

Bharti loyalists, who had been demanding her return at the helm of affairs in the state, suffered a setback when BJP parliamentary board named Chouhan as the next Chief Minister replacing Babulal Gaur.