The Hindu : BJP, RSS discuss poll coordination

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Mar 06, 2004

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BJP, RSS discuss poll coordination

By Neena Vyas

NEW DELHI, MARCH 5. Senior leaders of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Bharatiya Janata Party met at the Prime Minister's residence here today to discuss coordination in the Sangh Parivar during the coming general elections and to ensure that leaders of all the Sangh organisations speak in one voice on different issues.

The senior BJP leaders have agreed to all the issues of concern to the RSS, be it Ayodhya, abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution conferring a special status on Jammu and Kashmir, ban on cow slaughter or introduction of a uniform civil code throughout the country. Madan Das Devi, senior RSS leader, told reporters after the meeting that the BJP had agreed to include these issues in its `Vision Document' for the elections. Mr. Devi said he had met the Union Law Minister, Arun Jaitley, who is in charge of drafting the document, and would have another meeting with him before the document was finalised.

Naidu's word of caution

However, the BJP president, Venkaiah Naidu, did express a word of caution. While confirming that all those issues (generally associated with Hindutva) would be part of the `Vision Document,' he said they were not part of the National Democratic Alliance agenda in 1999 and might not find a place in the new NDA agenda.

The main outcome of the meeting is that the RSS will use all its strength and "help the nationalist forces" in the elections, as Mr. Naidu himself put it. "All `swayamsevaks' [RSS volunteers] will help the party," Mr. Naidu said after the meeting.

The 90-minute meeting took place ahead of the crucial Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha meeting of the RSS in Jaipur from March 12 which will be attended by Mr. Naidu and the party general secretary, Sanjay Joshi. Earlier, the RSS spokesperson, Ram Madhav, said the Sabha — the highest decision making body of the RSS attended by heads of all Sangh organisations — would adopt a resolution on the political situation with special reference to the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.

Today's meeting was attended by the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, Mr. Naidu and Mr. Joshi on behalf of the BJP and three senior RSS leaders — `pracharak pramukh' (head of all RSS full-time workers), H.V. Seshadiri, the general secretary, Mohan Bhagwat, and the joint general secretary, Madan Das Devi, who is also the RSS-BJP coordinator.

After the meeting, Mr. Madhav said the BJP leaders discussed with the RSS leaders the basis for their confidence that the party will emerge victorious in the elections. The party leaders also mentioned that Muslims had started joining the BJP "in a big way" and the view was that nothing should be said or done that would drive them away. The RSS leaders agreed with this view, Mr. Madhav said.

It is said that the Ayodhya issue also came up, with Mr. Advani taking the lead in the discussions. Mr. Advani, who a few days ago ruled out a resolution of the Ayodhya issue ahead of the elections, apparently said that he expected a number of Muslims to be "constructive" and "positive" in their approach.

It seems that BJP leaders tried to convey to the RSS top brass that nothing should be done or said by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad — which will be represented at the Pratinidhi Sabha — that would once again inflame passions.

The RSS leaders briefed Mr. Vajpayee and others on their talks with some Muslim organisations on the Ayodhya issue. The BJP leaders, in turn, shared information on what would be done and what could be done on the issue after the elections. The RSS leaders were appreciative of the recent call by the Muslim clergy against sacrifice of cows during the Id festival.

When Mr. Naidu was asked about the remarks made by the VHP leaders that they "did not feel good," Mr. Naidu said they were concerned about the Ram temple issue. It was a concern shared by the BJP too and he was hopeful of an early resolution of the issue.

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