Khurana loses party post after outburst against Vajpayee

Other BJP leaders privately admitted that it was a clear case of breach of party discipline in view of the party’s directive that no MP would air his views at any fora other than Parliament and parliamentary party meetings.

Khurana has come a full circle now. He had resigned from the Cabinet last year due to the Sangh Parivar’s attacks on Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and is now accusing Vajpayee of being surrounded by a coterie of bureaucrats and ministers who were misleading him on crucial issues.

Khurana seems to have chosen his issues very carefully so as to endear himself to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. PDS price rise and quantitative restrictions are two issues close to RSS chief K S Sudarshan’s heart while another RSS stalwart, Dattopant Thengadi, had vehemently opposed the Sankhya Vahini project.

Khurana, however, denies that he was doing the RSS’s bidding in Parliament. “I am not raising these issues on behalf of the RSS. It’s true that the RSS has taken up these issues. Having grown in the RSS, I have learnt so many things from the Sangh,” he said today.

Khurana released a letter reportedly written by US Secretary for Commerce Susan G Esserman on December 16 last year to Special Secretary (Commerce) asking India to lift the ban on quantitative restrictions on import of 1429 items belonging to agriculture, textiles and industrial products.

A perturbed Khurana had met the Prime Minister in this connection on March 8. He later sent a letter to Vajpayee again on March 10 complaining that the US administration was interfering in India’s internal affairs.

He also pointed out at his Press meet today that Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha had admitted in his Budget speech that quantitative restrictions on 2,100 items were being removed. Khurana questioned the Government’s haste in removing the restrictions this year only though as per WTO agreement it had to do it by the year 2003.

He also criticised the manner in which the Sankhya Vahini contract was finalised since the “US company did not exist when the Communications Ministry signed the MOU.”

Khurana had announced his decision to give a notice for a special discussion under Rule 193 of rules of procedure of the Lok Sabha on these issues. He had obtained the signature of seven others, including four BJP MPs.

Khurana was forced to resign from the BJP’s national executive last year after he had launched a broadside against the RSS and its allied organisations for “creating problems for Vajpayee”.