Humiliated Khurana too quits party post

NEW DELHI, Aug 8: Former Delhi chief minister Madan Lal Khurana today quit as national vice-president of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). U...

NEW DELHI, Aug 8: Former Delhi chief minister Madan Lal Khurana today quit as national vice-president of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). Upset over the party’s decision to retain Sahib Singh Verma as the State Chief Minister, Khurana said he would like to “suffer and serve” the party as an ordinary member.

Khurana said that tomorrow, he would make known his decision on appeals by BJP president L K Advani and Atal Bihari Vajpayee to reconsider his action.The former chief minister’s resignation came a day after another senior party leader, Banwari Lal Purohit quit his Lok Sabha seat and party national executive after crossing swords with BJP general secretary Pramod Mahajan on allotment of land to a private steel manufacturer.

Khurana was in a defiant mood at the crowded press conference this morning at his Kirti Nagar residence, but chose words carefully for criticising senior leaders of his party.“The past 18 months have been the most tense period of my political career spanning over four decades. I was subjected to a baseless prosecution. The court has discharged me but my party’s leaders continue to regard me as guilty,” he said in the brief press note.

Khurana said that he was implicated in the Hawala case because former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao was angry with him for carrying out a “task entrusted to him by his party leaders.” His resignation letter to party president last night said he was resigning from the party post because Sahib Singh Verma has been asked to continue as the Chief Minister.

Police personnel seen to control the situation during a massive protest over the statehood demand and the inclusion of Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule, in Leh on Wednesday. (ANI Video Grab)

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