By IANS,
Raipur : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani Wednesday took estranged colleague Uma Bharti in his special plane from New Delhi to Chhattisgarh in a signal that she may be returning to the party fold.
As the plane touched down at Raipur’s Mana airport around 10 a.m., reporters spotted Uma Bharti stepping out from the plane with Advani, former party president Rajnath Singh and party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad.
BJP sources said all four leaders were in the state capital for about 40 minutes. After having breakfast together, they left for Kawardha town for a function to pay tributes to Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh’s father. The chief minister’s father died June 4.
The sources said Advani also took Uma Bharti to Kawardha from Raipur in a chopper to attend the condolence meet at Raman Singh’s hometown. Kawardha is 120 km from here.
None of the BJP leaders commented on former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Uma Bharti’s arrival here with Advani, and she looked relaxed.
Uma Bharti, also a former union minister, was expelled from the BJP in 2005 after a spat with Advani.
Not confirming reports that Uma Bharti may return to the BJP, the party Wednesday said that it had “no information” on the matter.
“There is no information on anybody. There is nothing to talk about yet, we will contact you as soon as we have something,” BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters in New Delhi.
Sources from BJP told IANS: “This could be another of her many attempts to return to the party, like she has negotiated many times in the past and the media has reported then too. Probably she is trying to come back.”