Lucknow, March 16 (IANS) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has declined to meet US Ambassador Timothy J. Roemer, who arrived here Tuesday on a two-day visit to the state, citing her 'busy political schedule'.

'The chief minister had a very busy political schedule as number of party leaders from different parts of the country were here at this time and meetings were fixed with different groups long before word came from the US embassy,' a senior official in the chief minister's personal secretariat said.

'By the time we received a request from the US embassy, it was too late for the chief minister to alter her programmes and fit a meeting with the ambassador in her schedule,' the official added.

A formal letter has also been sent by the chief minister's secretariat to the US embassy.

Roemer called on Governor B.L.Joshi, after which he went on a visit to a USAID project in a neighbouring village.

According to a US embassy official, Roemer earlier visited Bihar and Karnataka, where their chief ministers Nitish Kumar and B.S. Yeddyurappa not only met him, but also spent some time with him.