The Hindu : Go slow is the message for Khurana

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 11, 2003

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Go slow is the message for Khurana

By Sujay Mehdudia

NEW DELHI MAY 10 .While the Delhi BJP and its president, Madan Lal Khurana, are receiving flak for having failed to fulfil their commitments to voters, including full Statehood to Delhi, it is learnt that it was at the instance of some senior BJP leaders that it was decided not to rush with the Statehood Bill and instead "wait for the right moment''.

Sources in the party say that sharp differences between the leaders at the Central and State levels on various issues including Statehood had hampered the progress. While Mr. Khurana was strongly in favour of introducing a legislation in Parliament for grant of Statehood to Delhi during the just concluded Budget session, many in the party cautioned the leadership and the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, against any such move as it could lead to a dispute and the blame could well fall on the BJP-led Central Government. Many within the party, opposed to the one-man show of Mr. Khurana, urged the leadership to wait for the right moment to get the maximum gains.

Many in the party were of the view that instead of unleashing an onslaught on the Sheila Dikshit Government, Mr. Khurana has to fight a war within his own party. His adverse remarks against the Delhi police and the CBI have not gone down well within the party. His adversaries are making things very difficult for him and that could well create problems for the party also in the coming days. There is also a growing feeling that Mr. Khurana was not being given due respect and his views are not being taken seriously by some leaders and there were attempts to sabotage his whole package meant to woo the electorate in the run-up to the Delhi Assembly polls later this year. "Many leaders were of the view that the Bill to grant Statehood should be introduced in the monsoon session so that the gains are maximum. Similarly, other issues, if not interfered by the courts, would also be resolved around that time only. This is the reason why nothing happened during the Budget session,'' a senior party leader remarked.

In fact, Mr. Khurana's recent tirade against the Sheila Dikshit Government over the power reforms and privatisation has lacked credibility and failed to convince people that something wrong had taken place. The situation is all the more difficult as it was the BJP-led Central Government, its Central Ministers and even the President of India who have talked highly about power reforms in Delhi and their positive impact. The Central Vigilance Commission had given a clean chit to the entire process. "The demand for a CBI probe every now and then by Mr. Khurana does not carry weight and is unlikely to cut ice with the Prime Minister or the Deputy Prime Minister. We are backing privatisation and reforms and cannot be seen blocking them as the success of Delhi has countrywide ramifications. The focus should be on issues affecting people and not individuals,'' a BJP watcher remarked.

Interestingly, partymen admit that Mr. Khurana has neither been able to make an impact on the electorate nor has been able to corner the Sheila Dikshit Government. There is general feeling that both the party and Mr. Khurana are struggling and finding it extremely difficult to ward off the feel good factor associated with the Congress Government. "Mr. Khurana has been most unconvincing during the recent days. He seems to have lost track of the agenda and his charter of demands hangs fire without any action from the Central Government. There is total lack of direction and the war is more within the party than outside,'' a senior Delhi BJP leader added.

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