The Hindu : Front Page : RSS delivers stern message to BJP

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 12, 2005

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Front Page

RSS delivers stern message to BJP

Neena Vyas

BJP abuzz with speculation as RSS leaders meet Vajpayee, Advani

L.K. Advani ... besieged

NEW DELHI: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Monday delivered its promised stern message to the Bharatiya Janata Party leadership, especially the president L.K. Advani, that it would not tolerate any deviation from its ideology or any "ideological erosion".

Party sources said the message was unambiguous: No deviation would be allowed from the Sangh ideology and Mr. Advani should go for having shaken the very foundations of those beliefs with his Jinnah formulation during his Pakistan visit. It was now for the BJP to act.

Despite pressure from the RSS till late in the night, Mr. Advani did not oblige it with his resignation.

On a day of rapid developments, three senior Sangh leaders — Mohan Bhagwat, Suresh Soni and Madan Das Devi — met the former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and Mr. Advani separately for about an hour in their houses. Several BJP leaders, including M. Venkaiah Naidu and Murli Manohar Joshi, separately met the Sangh leadership at its Jhandewalan headquarters here.

Meeting likely today

The finale was a late night meeting of the BJP general secretaries with the Sangh leaders at Jhandewalan, where apparently various scenarios were discussed— the fallout on the party if Mr. Advani was to quit as president immediately; the second scenario of allowing him some more time for a smooth transition of power to a new president; and the third one of how to deal with the situation if Mr. Advani refused to resign.

A meeting of party office-bearers is expected to take place on Tuesday, according to party sources.

The BJP office here was abuzz with reports that Mr. Advani could step down almost immediately from at least one of the two positions he holds, party president and Leader of the Opposition. Some felt that under the circumstances it would be difficult for him to hold on to even one position, a view articulated by the former Union Minister, Yashwant Sinha, soon after the crisis broke out last month after Mr. Advani returned from Pakistan.

On Sunday, Baliram Kashyap, MP, publicly said Mr. Advani should quit both posts.

Several party leaders said the picture would become clear by Tuesday, but it was apparent even on Monday evening that efforts were being made to secure Mr. Advani's resignation.

The only sentence spoken on record by RSS spokesperson Ram Madhav was, "Sangh leaders have met party leaders according to schedule." BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar almost repeated the sentence, adding "there is no confusion in the party and the [Sangh] Parivar."

Advani's resignation, a matter of `timing'

Some party leaders continued to maintain that Mr. Advani's resignation was not imminent, but others were equally clear that it was now only a matter of "timing."

Apparently, the RSS leaders conveyed to Mr. Vajpayee and Mr. Advani the Sangh's strong views on the ideological deviation in the BJP chief's "Jinnah is secular" formulation and his defiance later when he said he, like Arjun of Mahabharata, would prepare for the battle (of ideologies). Apparently the issue of Mr. Advani holding two positions contrary to the one-man, one-post principle also came up. Mr. Vajpayee is believed to have given the RSS leaders a patient hearing.

The RSS leaders were then closeted with Mr. Advani for about an hour. He reportedly gave them an elaborate explanation for his Jinnah remarks, which the RSS found unacceptable.

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