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'I didn't expect this from Parivar members'

Former Union minister Madan Lal Khurana said he wouldn't have resigned had the co-ordination committee asked Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to restrain the Sangh Parivar earlier.

"If I had said this, I would have been taken to task. If things had been set right after what I said in Bangalore, maybe the co-ordination committee would not have had to issue this statement," he said in the Janata ki adalat programme, to be telecast on STAR TV on Sunday.

Khurana said the Bharatiya Janata Party would not have lost the assembly election in Delhi had he spoken out earlier. "I was a mute spectator for one whole year as I was told to remain quiet. Today, I feel that if I had spoken before the election, maybe the BJP would not have lost Delhi."

The former parliamentary affairs and tourism minister said he has no plan to quit the party or form a new regional party though some people are "trying their best" to sideline him.

"I did not expect this from Parivar members... I cannot describe how they have humiliated me. They want that I should become a non-entity in Delhi. I am in the party and wish to spend the rest of my life in the party. But if some people have decided to throw me out, then I shall have to consider that as well," he said.

Refuting reports that he had plans to form a regional party by joining up with Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Haryana Lok Dal (Rashtriya) chief Om Prakash Chautala, Khurana re-pledged his loyalty to the BJP.

"I am repeating that I will not form any regional party or any party in Delhi. The news reports are motivated. What can I do if the high command removes me on seeing such reports?"

Asked if he felt there was a conspiracy by the Sangh Parivar to defame the Vajpayee government, his answer was that he had known "these office-bearers" [of the RSS] since 1950, when they used to talk disparagingly about Vajpayee. But then Vajpayee was only a party leader.

"Today, by speaking derogatorily about him, you are defaming not only the BJP. Vajpayee is the prime minister of the country. And this is not palatable to some."

Khurana denied he was protesting on behalf of the prime minister: "No, not at all. When I resigned, I told Atalji that people should not say that I am in the Cabinet because of you. Here is my resignation."

The former minister said he had believed the BJP government would usher in Ram rajya [a righteous government] and swarajya [self-rule]. "Where are we now? We have only got entangled among ourselves," he lamented.

Despite the many achievements in the last nine months, Khurana continued, "the net result is that we have made Sonia Gandhi acceptable to the people of the country. For the first six months the allies and for the next three months the Parivar members gave negative statements which made it to the front page, while our achievements were relegated to the inside pages".

He denied having criticised anyone in the party or the Sangh Parivar. "If I say the killing [of Graham Stains in Orissa] is not right, does it mean I am speaking against the party?" he asked.

Khurana claimed he had never accused the Bajrang Dal of being involved in the killing. "A Bajrang Dal supporter does not mean the entire Bajrang Dal is involved," he said.

UNI

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