Khurana begins a new political career

Amitabh Shukla

New Delhi, January 29

Former Delhi Chief Minister Madan Lal Khurana on Monday began a new political career outside the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) as the Acting President of Uma Bharti’s Bhartiya Jan Shakti party (BJS).

This is the first stint of the former Delhi strongman outside the BJP. Khurana was expelled from the BJP after he made scathing remarks against former party president and Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani and joined Bharti on a public platform of her party in Delhi last year.

Addressing a news conference along with Bharti, Khurana said: “I would continue to lead the rest of my political career with the ideals of the sangh and the BJP”. He described the BJP as a “public limited company” and claimed the BJS would be a different political outfit. He said the BJP was in the “grip of conspirators” but refused to name them. “Certain BJP leaders continue to spread distorted news against him and Bharti,” he said.

The announcement of Khurana has made the forthcoming MCD elections in the city as a four-cornered contest. Apart from Congress and BJP, the Third Front and BJS too would field candidates in all the 272 seats. With a considerable political following in the city, Khurana’s BJS is expected to eat into the traditional BJP vote bank. He has won 10 of the 11 elections he has contested and has been a Union Minister, Governor of Rajasthan and party in-charge of several states in the past.

Bharti declared her intent saying that her party will contest the elections in Punjab, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and the polls for the MCD. Asked whether both of them were keen to return to their parent BJP, both Khurana and Bharti described it as “baseless” and handiwork of some vested interests in the BJP.

Asked about his visit to the residence of Advani and whether that was an attempt to patch up, Khurana claimed he had gone there merely to wish him on Deepawali. Referring to the BJP, Bharti said, “the party has to learn to live without us”. (2007)