Khurana accuses Advani of being 'dictatorial'

Buoyed by support from former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Madan Lal Khurana today launched a bitter attack on BJP President LK Advani, accusing him of harbouring a "dictatorial attitude".

At a meeting organised by his supporters at his residence here, Khurana said after the party served him a show-cause notice, he sought time thrice to meet Advani but this was not granted. "Does this not reflect a dictatorial attitude, arrogance?" he asked.

A day after BJP expelled him for six years on disciplinary grounds, Khurana kept his cards close to his chest on his next move, saying he would announce it on Monday or Tuesday.

He said he would discuss with "family, friends and BJP central leaders" before arriving at a decision which he would announce between September 16 and 18, when the BJP national executive meets in Chennai.

The meeting was attended by three BJP MLAs from Delhi. Khurana said he once considered Advani his "ideal", but the BJP president had "become surrounded by people giving him wrong advice from air-conditioned rooms that I should be pushed to the back".

Claiming that Vajpayee told him he had no knowledge that a show cause notice was being served on him, Khurana said "he had also tried to make Advani agree to sit together with me to sort out problems" but to no avail. Recalling that he has been associated with the Sangh Parivar ever since his student days, Khurana said the "party had deteriorated from being like a family to a private limited company in which the bosses hand down orders to subordinates."