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Uma Bharti meets PM: PTI

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Uma Bharti, who announced her decision to take "sanyas" from politics and resign Lok Sabha membership last Monday, met Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee Thursday.

Vajpayee will have a second meeting with Bharti next week before taking a decision on whether to accept her resignation from the Lok Sabha and the BJP's national executive, prime minister's office sources said after the former Union minister met him for about 45 minutes.

The prime minister advised her to discuss the issue with senior party leaders including L K Advani, Kushabhau Thakre and Bangaru Laxman and meet him again after the party's national council meeting slated for August 27 and 28 at Nagpur, the sources said.

She had written to Vajpayye from Madhya Pradesh informing him of her decision but said she would however continue to be a primary member of the BJP and serve the people through other constructive means.

Bharti had requested the prime minister to forward her resignation letter to the Lok Sabha speaker and to the party president.

The sources clarified that Bharti had never sought to put pressure on the prime minister for her re-induction into the Union council of ministers nor had she desired for any position in the party.

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