BJP panel wants Khurana expelled

His crime does not merit such harsh punishment, feel some Delhi leaders

In what is seen as an attempt to curb the growing dissidence in the Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the party's Chennai National Executive, a disciplinary panel of the party has recommended that senior leader Madan Lal Khurana be expelled for a period of six years.

A press statement given by the head of the committee has said that the recommendation followed Khurana's continued silence in response to the show cause notice served on him on August 22.

"The chargesheet against Khurana holds him guilty of discussing party matters in the media, damaging the party's image in public and damaging the reputation of party office- bearers," said Ram Naik, a member of the panel.

Khurana had got into trouble with the BJP top brass when he wrote an open letter to party president LK Advani saying that it had become "difficult to function under your (Advani's) leadership".

While the party ignored this statement as one of many when the Jinnah controversy was on, it did not look too kindly upon Khurana's comments on the ongoing dissident activity in Gujarat.

Khurana had recently said that his "biggest mistake as party prabhari of Gujarat when a new chief minister had to be sent there was to give the green signal for Modi's accession to the post".

However, some Delhi BJP leaders felt that the recommended action against Khurana was, rather disproportionate to his crime. "While people like Uma Bharati and Keshubhai Patel can get away with the most shocking indiscipline, it is only Khurana who is penalised," said a senior Delhi leader. "This just goes to show that the BJP now thinks his days in politics are over and that they have nothing to fear from him," he added.

The disciplinary committee's recommendation can be, technically, turned down by the party president. BJP sources, however, said that Advani had been taken into confidence before the panel made its recommendation. The panel consisted of Ram Naik, OP Kohli, Sheshagiri Rao, Nand Kishore Yadav and Brij Lal Rinwa.

Khurana himself appeared subdued and said that he had asked for more time to reply to the show cause notice. For more than 40 years Khurana has been the face of the BJP in Delhi, leading it to form the first government of Delhi after it became a Nation Capital Territory state. "It is a sad day when senior leaders of the party are treated this way," said a senior leader.