I am not for any party post: Khurana

New Delhi, Mar 25 (UNI) Former Union Minister Madan Lal Khurana, who was recently suspended from the BJP, today clarified that he had not aspired for any post in the party but was unhappy over the manner it was being run.

''I want the party to be run like it was done in pre-1998 period, when every cadre, senior and junior was treated like a family,'' he told UNI.

He said some vested interests wrongly projected him speaking against the party, as he had not been given any party post.

''I never worked for posts. If it had been so, why I had resigned from Delhi Chief Ministership after two and a half years, resigned from Union Council of Ministers after one and a half years and from Rajasthan Governorship within 10 months,'' he asked.

He said he had taken these steps to uphold the values the party stood for and also to take up the problems being faced by the people of Delhi, which included shifting and closure of industries.

Mr Khurana said he was always for a strong BJP and wanted to work unrelently for it. ''Only for this purpose, I want the party to give me the responsibility of coordinating between the senior and junior members. I don't think it amounts to anti-party activities. On the other hand, it would help the party regain its pre-1998 position,'' he said.

Mr Khurana, who was suspended for attending expelled party leader Uma Bharti's rally in Delhi on March 21, denied that he had given any undertaking to Ms Bharti that he would join the new party proposed by her. He asserted that he would continue to fight for the interests of people of Delhi and defended a newly floated Forum for the purpose.

''I told the BJP leadership I am unfit to work in the present set up of the party, but would like to join if it retrieves its pre-1998 status,'' the former Delhi Chief Minister said.

''If I don't get any reply by March 31, I will decide my course of action,'' he said.

Mr Khurana regretted that senior leaders were not only being sidelined but insulted. He said he was confident that if conducive atmosphere will be created, senior leaders including Ms Bharti would return to party fold. ''These were the leaders who built the party,'' he said.

Mr Khurana agreed with the view of Ms Bharti's that the party was being run like a private limited company and it has been hijacked by a particular coterie.

UNI KAS YA GC1424