Khurana sees ray of hope for return to party

New Delhi, Mar 24 (UNI) Indicating lingering hopes for an honourable return to the party, suspended BJP leader Madanlal Khurana today said he has given word to a 'very senior' BJP leader that he will not speak on party affairs till April 1.

Speaking to reporters here, he also denied having received any show cause notice from the party. ''Where does the question of my response to the party arise when I have not even received the show cause notice,'' he said in response to questions.

Mr Khurana was suspended from the primary membership of the party on March 19 for participating in a strong rally organised by expelled BJP leader Uma Bharti here.

On his presence at the rally, the veteran leader today said that he was there because Ms Bharti was supporting his fight against the MCD's demolition drive in Delhi.

He, however, refused to take on the party brass, saying he had given word to a ''very senior BJP leader that I will not talk any politics till this month end''.

Reiterating his contributions to the party's cause, he recalled his four decade-long link with the BJP and the RSS and the eleven electoral victories he has had in Delhi.

In the same breath, Mr Khurana made no attempt to hide his opposition to the Delhi BJP unit President Harsh Vardhan or his keenness to occupy the post again.

While deploring MLA Harsharan Singh Balli's suspension from the BJP, he said the state leadership of both the Congress as well as the BJP had failed to protect people's interest on the demolition issue.

The party denied him the Rajya Sabha ticket, but could have ''at the least'' given a man who shunned Governorship and returned to active politics the reins of the party in Delhi, Mr Khurana said.

Even as he remained mum on his next steps on the political front, Mr Khurana said he had nominated Mr Balli and MLA Daya Nand Chandeela as President and General Secretary of the ''Delhi Bachao Morcha'', formed recently to fight the demolition drive. Names of other office bearers of the Morcha would be announced later, he said.

UNI