New Delhi, September 11:

In a setback to the ongoing efforts to break the logjam in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) caused by former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s public criticism of Madan Lal Khurana’s expulsion, the Delhi strongman has been served with a formal expulsion order indicating a hardening of stands on party chief Lal Krishna Advani’s part. An apparently upset Khurana, who received the letter signed by BJP General Secretary (Organisation) Sanjay Joshi late last night, rushed to Vajpayee’s residence early today to register his protest.

“It’s clear that a section of BJP is against me. It is a matter of concern the letter has been served on me when talks were on and Vajpayee had expressed his reservations about the decision,” he told reporters after emerging from a meeting with the former prime minister that lasted for about 90 minutes. Claiming it was Vajpayee who had called him for talks, Khurana said the letter that had been withheld for 48 hours could have been delayed further as well. He, however, said he had total faith in Vajpayee who had issued a public statement on September 8 saying Khurana should have been given one more opportunity to explain his stand.