ENOUGH: Bharatiya Janata Party president L. K. Advani coming out after the national executive meet in Chennai on Sunday. — Photo: K. Pichumani

CHENNAI: A first rate crisis stared the Bharatiya Janata Party in the face here on Sunday when party president L.K. Advani announced in a concluding statement that he would demit office in December at the BJP national council session in Mumbai that would also mark the end of the party's silver jubilee celebrations.

Significantly, while announcing a roadmap for his exit Mr. Advani signalled the need to change "the impression that has gained ground that no political or organisational decision can be taken [by the BJP] without the consent of the RSS functionaries".

Mr. Advani's stated view was "both the RSS and the BJP must consciously exert [themselves] to dispel that impression" as "this perception ... will do no good either to the party or to the RSS." The RSS, he added, must also be concerned that such a perception "would dwarf its greater mission of man-making and nation-building." The message was clear and blunt: the RSS must stick to its role of character building among swayamsevaks and leave the business of politics to the BJP.

The exit had become a certainty after Mr. Advani's "Jinnah's August 1947 vision was secular" formulation during his Pakistan visit in early June. It was expected ever since an agreement was hammered out between the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh functionaries and top BJP leaders in New Delhi on July 17 to allow Mr. Advani to stay in office, but not beyond December. Following the Jinnah controversy, communication between Mr. Advani and the RSS bosses broke down. The relationship soured to an extent that the RSS seemed to be waiting anxiously for the announcement of his departure as BJP president.

Mr. Advani's comments on the RSS were viewed as an indictment of the manner in which the RSS tried to impose its views on the political party. The BJP's senior leadership was clearly divided over this "open criticism" of the mother organisation by the party president.

Party leaders felt that with Mr. Advani's imminent departure as BJP president, Mr. Vajpayee's position as the "supremo" had become stronger. It was also accepted by party leaders that with Mr. Advani having lost his clout, and even his ability to communicate, with the RSS, it was the former Prime Minister who would now have the last word, possibly even on the problems in Gujarat where there is serious dissidence against Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

There was a last minute attempt by some party functionaries, notably Bihar leader Sushil Modi, to stave off the crisis. He wanted "rumours" about Mr. Advani's expected announcement to be scotched, with the exit timetable not being made public till after the Bihar elections.

It was obvious that jostling for the post of party president would now begin in right earnest. That added to the sense of impending crisis felt and expressed by some national executive committee members. Mr. Jaswant Singh, who briefed the press on Sunday's developments, did not throw any light on when the process of election — or selection — of a new party president would begin. He only confirmed that the outgoing party president would preside over the December National Council session in Mumbai, and hand over charge to the new president on the last day of that session, possibly December 30.

In his concluding statement, Mr. Advani noted that " the BJP leadership has had no hesitation in consulting with the RSS functionaries" but "after such consultations the party takes it own independent decisions." Some of these decisions, he added, "may differ — have indeed differed — from the stated positions of the RSS and certain constituents of the Sangh Parivar." Basically, the message was that the RSS must limit its role to strengthening the "ethical, moral and idealistic" moorings of party workers and functionaries.

On the other hand, Mr. Vajpayee's address emphasised the "primacy of the organisation" and paid homage to the "unsung workers of the party" who had dedicated their entire lives to "fulfilling the mission to serve the country." Generations to come would be called upon to discharge their duties for this "continuing mission," he added.

Mr. Vajpayee, who spoke extempore, chose to reflect on the BJP's association with the RSS, "an exceptional organisation unequal in the world." He made it a point to focus on the unbreakable bond between the two, saying that first the Jan Sangh and then the BJP was "established jointly with the RSS."

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