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Centre turns its back on Khurana

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI NOV. 1. Did the Delhi Development Authority or the Union Urban Development Ministry ditch the Delhi BJP president, Madan Lal Khurana? The facts suggest that the Union Government has turned a blind eye to Mr. Khurana's demand to get the DDA to pass an order allowing change in land use facilitating commercial use of industrial land. This move has come as a setback to the BJP leader and may upset him no end.

Mr. Khurana's position and his equation with those at the helm of affairs in the BJP-led Government have come under scrutiny following this latest move. It was more than a month ago that he had claimed that he had met the Union Urban Development Minister, Ananth Kumar, and had been assured by him that a Cabinet note on change of land use allowing commercial activity on industrial plots would be prepared and brought before the Cabinet within 15 days. But with DDA filing an affidavit in the Supreme Court dropping its plans to go ahead with the scheme, it is clear that Mr. Khurana has been overlooked in the whole affair.

What is now being debated is that if at all Ananth Kumar had given any assurance to the Delhi BJP chief in this regard. If such an assurance had indeed been given by the Union Minister, then what made him go back on it and put the credibility of a senior leader at stake. This is a clear indication that both the party and the Central Government are pulling in different directions and in the process the people of Delhi were being misled. Mr. Khurana's rivals within the party are of the view that he went overboard by fixing deadlines for preparing of a Cabinet note, which generally takes months to be put in place.

This development does not augur well for the BJP or Mr. Khurana. This would put the party as a suspect in the eyes of the electorate and even invite the charge of making false promises for petty political gains. What could even prove to be more harmful is the fact that the Apex Court has sought a report on the violators within six weeks and could go ahead and suggest action against them including closing down of present business being run in violation of the law. That Mr. Khurana has been made to eat a humble pie is certainly going to offend the BJP leader who is known for taking a strong stand on major issues including against his own party.

Sources in the BJP said time was fast running out for the party to fulfil the wish list submitted by Mr. Khurana. Despite making tall promises and meeting every one right from the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, to the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, and other Ministers down the line, things are not moving at the pace which Mr. Khurana would like to. However, the Union Urban Development Ministry sources point out that it is not possible to concede the list of demands submitted by Mr. Khurana in one go as the courts are presently dealing with many of the issues and the Ministry had filed adverse affidavits in many of the cases.

But Mr. Khurana is hopeful that with his Man Friday -- Subhash Sharma -- taking over as the Vice-Chairman of DDA, things would start moving at a faster pace and to his liking.

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