Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Murali Manohar Joshi were opposed to the expulsion of former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Uma Bharti from the party for revolting against the nomination of Shivraj Singh Chouhan as the chief minister, top party sources said on Monday.

These two leaders expressed their opposition to Bharti's expulsion at the party's parliamentary board meeting that decided to take action against, the sources added.

It was Joshi who counseled the board that any move to isolate Bharti, particularly after utilising her services in the Bihar assembly elections, will not be in the interest of the party.

The sources said a section of the party felt the leadership blundered in the Uma Bharti issue.

The party offered Bharti the general secretary's post in order to retain her within its fold as also to recognise the significant role she played in the Bihar elections, where the National Democratic Alliance dislodged the Lalu-Rabri regime.

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The sources said general secretaries Pramod Mahajan and Arun Jaitley were asked to convey the party leadership's decision to Bharti.

"We are not sure how best the decision was conveyed to her," a senior leader remarked.

The leader, who preferred to remain anonymous, said going by the overwhelming response, the former chief minister was drawing during her ongoing 1000-km long Bhopal-Ayodhya road show, she could create problems for the BJP in Madhya Pradesh.

He also said that nobody could find fault with whatever Bharti was saying on the issue of ideology.

The party's ideology had been compromised and this should be conceded candidly, he added.

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