NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh in consultation with senior party leaders suspended former Delhi Chief Minister Madan Lal Khurana from the primary membership of the party on Sunday.

The process for the suspension was set in motion with BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi being asked to issue a suspension letter and a show cause notice to Mr. Khurana.

The suspension order comes in the wake of Mr. Khurana's announcement at a press conference earlier in the day that he was going to join the `Janadesh Rally' being organised by the expelled BJP leader and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Uma Bharti, here on March 21.

Mr. Singh spoke to Mr. Khurana in the morning and asked him not to take any hasty step. However, Mr. Khurana went ahead and announced his participation in the rally though he had ruled it out this past week.

Addressing a press conference here, Mr. Khurana said he was joining the rally to raise the voice of the people of Delhi who were suffering due to the ongoing demolitions and the court order to seal all shops operating from residential areas. The BJP had not done enough to end the sufferings of the capital's citizens, he said.

Mr. Khurana was suspended last year after he publicly accused the then BJP chief, L.K. Advani, of ignoring senior leaders. The suspension was later revoked after the intervention of the former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

"I know I will be risking my membership in the BJP, but I do not care. For me the people of Delhi, who have showered love and affection, come before the party. I am prepared for expulsion, but I cannot see the city being ruined due to the ongoing demolition drive by the municipal authorities," he said.

Stating that he was feeling suffocated in the BJP for the past couple of years as some so-called leaders were working against the interests of the party, its workers and the common people, Mr. Khurana said that despite promises, he was denied organisational responsibilities which he deserved as a senior party leader.

He also lambasted party leaders for denying him a Rajya Sabha nomination which, he claimed, was promised to him by the former BJP president and senior party leader, M. Venkaiah Naidu.

"Some leaders are scared of my popularity in Delhi. After the Congress-ruled Municipal Corporation of Delhi began its demolition drive in the city, I decided to lead a campaign against it, but the party and its senior leaders denied me support," he said.

Mr. Khurana, however, said he would declare his strategy at the rally and organise demonstrations against the demolition drive. "I am yet to make a final decision on joining Ms. Bharti's proposed new party," he said. He termed his resignation from the post of Delhi Chief Minister in 1996 on Mr. Advani's advice the biggest mistake of his political career.

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