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BJP did not trust my ability to dissuade Chautala, says Khurana

Former Union minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Madanlal Khurana today described the withdrawal of support by Om Prakash Chautala's Indian National Lok Dal to the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government as ''very unfortunate and painful.''

Khurana said it was more painful to him, particularly since he, along with Akali Dal leader Parkash Singh Badal, was instrumental in getting the Haryana leader to extend ''unconditional support'' to the BJP-led coalition.

''But the BJP did not repose confidence in me to persuade Chautala from withdrawing support. The party depended on other leaders for this task,'' he lamented.

Khurana said although there was no guarantee that he would have succeeded in persuading Chautala from taking any drastic action, he would not have felt so bad had the BJP sent him as an emissary. ''I am sorry that the party does not have confidence in me any longer,'' he added.

UNI

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