Khurana asked to hold talks with Chautala

NEW DELHI, April 8: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Madan Lal Khurana, sidelined for the past few months, has been assigned the task...

NEW DELHI, April 8: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Madan Lal Khurana, sidelined for the past few months, has been assigned the task of enlisting the support of the four Member of Parliament-strong Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) to enable the Vajpayee Government weather the current political crisis.

Khurana told PTI he had been asked by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Home Minister L K Advani to hold talks with INLD leader Om Prakash Chautala, who of late has been critical of the BJP-led coalition and withdrawn support to it about a month ago.

The former union minister, who played a key role in winning unconditional support of the INLD to the Vajpayee Government last year, had complained only yesterday that his services were not being utilised for talks with allies like the INLD.

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Khurana said he had already contacted Chautala at Jind and the latter had agreed for detailed talks here on April 12.

Khurana, who is accompanying the Prime Minister to Anandpur Sahib for the tercentenary celebrations of the Khalsa panth, said he would also seek the help of Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal to persuade Chautala to help bail out the BJP-led Government from the current crisis.

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