New Delhi: Almost a year after she formed her own party, Bharatiya Janshaktichief Uma Bharati has said senior BJP leaders A B Vajpayee and L K Advani 'arein the grip of power brokers' and nobody listens to them.

"I love them, I respect them like my father but they are in the grip ofpower brokers and they have been in the grip of power brokers since 2002.

"I feel sorry for those ladies who live in their old age in their parents'homes and everybody touches their feet, but nobody listens to them. Right now,this is the condition of Atalji and Advaniji. Nobody listens to them,"Bharti told Karan Thapar in an interview for CNN-IBN's Devil's Advocate show.

The fiery former BJP leader insisted her remarks were not personal but werepolitical.

"This is not a personal remark. They (Advani and Vajpayee) are in the gripof power brokers. What's personal in that. It's a political remark," shesaid.

Bharati admitted chances of success for her party in Punjaband Uttrakhand Assembly elections were dim.