Benazir and Zardari at the Ajmer dargah. Pictures by Prem Singh

Ajmer, April 1: Benazir Bhutto, it would appear, wants to upstage Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf but not now and not in India.

She is here to offer thanksgiving prayers at Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti?s dargah for husband Asif Ali Zardari?s release in November after ?eight torturous years? in jail.

She is here also to seek the Sufi saint?s blessing for restoration of democracy in Pakistan and for lasting peace with India.

?I have come two weeks before him (the Pakistan President)?If I try to stay, people will say that she wants to stay to upstage Musharraf,? said the former Pakistan Prime Minister.

Musharraf is expected in mid-April, on Delhi?s invitation, to watch the last India-Pakistan one-dayer in the ongoing series on April 17.

Musharraf and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have since made it clear that cricket and ?weather? would not be all they would discuss at their meeting.

Benazir, 52, said she could not have delayed her visit as she wanted Zardari to be with her on her fourth pilgrimage to Ajmer. She had prayed for his release on her two previous visits, the last in November 2003.

On Zardari?s return home on April 16, he will be busy upstaging Musharraf on Benazir?s behalf. He has promised party workers in Lahore a mass movement for restoration of democracy. Benazir said preparations were on in Lahore to mobilise a massive reception for her husband ?that will be attended by one million people?.

She, too, will follow but only after evaluating the federal as well as the provincial governments? response to Zardari?s activities. Benazir has earlier voiced the suspicion that her husband?s ?political liberty? might be at risk if she joins him there.

Benazir, now largely based in Dubai, has been in touch with the Musharraf regime but has denied striking a deal.

Islamabad, however, was not the only topic of interest to her at an impromptu interaction with journalists at the dargah. She also spoke about peace, in Pakistan and with India.

?I hope the cricket and bus diplomacy works out well and the confidence building measures increase,? Benazir said.

Dressed in a black salwar suit with golden embroidery, she wanted bus services expanded further and roads across the border in Gujarat and Punjab opened. Zardari, she said, wanted the road across Rajasthan opened, too.

So where did democracy fit into all this?

?Now, it depends on an individual, the peace process should be institutionalised...We are demanding elections this year to be able to take the peace process forward,? she said.