Wrangles will rock BJP

By resigning from the party vice-presidency, the Bharatiya Janata Party's senior leader Madan Lal Khurana has sent a clear message. He is loyal to the party, but is unwilling to take any humiliation lying down.

Though Khurana told Rediff On The NeT on Friday that he gave up the post ''to serve the party as a loyal, humble worker", the fact that he feels cheated is crystal clear.

"I feel that I have been wronged twice," he said, indirectly attacking BJP president L K Advani. "I do not want to question the final decision of the party leadership. But morally and in public life I have proved that I am an upright political leader."

What seems to have gone against Khurana is the staunch opposition to his candidature from Delhi Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma.

The party leadership could not afford to ruffle Verma considering his huge following in rural Delhi. Fearing that Verma would virtually split the party in the city if he is thrown out, Advani and the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, A B Vajpayee, bowed to the chief minister's demand.

Talking about the repercussions of the decision, a Delhi legislator said, "The Delhi unit will now have to live with internal wrangles.... Besides, the party has to work overtime to retain its hold over the prominent Punjabi community in the city.''

The legislator felt a Gujarat-like situation was being created in Delhi, where the BJP had established its hold in the last assembly election under Khurana's leadership.

Sources said Khurana's resignation is the beginning of a fierce power struggle between the Verma loyalists and the former's supporters.