The Hindu : National : Samiti not keen on role for Advani

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National

Samiti not keen on role for Advani

Neena Vyas

Not all elements in SASS are pro-BJP

NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party’s proposed rally in Jammu on August 25 announced by the party spokesperson on Monday now appears uncertain after some elements in Shri Amarnath Sangarsh Samiti reportedly expressed their reservation about the participation of Leader of the Opposition L.K. Advani.

The BJP spokesperson on Tuesday admitted there were some problems. “The Sangarsh Samiti is leading the protests in the Jammu region. It cannot be said that all elements in the Samiti are pro-BJP. The rally will be held after consultations with the Samiti leaders,” said Mr. Ravi Shankar Prasad in response to questions whether the Samiti had decided not to hold the proposed rally and whether the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, one of the leading organisations of the Samiti, did not want to share the dais with the top BJP leaders.

Asked about this, BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley said, “there are some problems of logistics.” Both Mr. Advani and BJP president Rajnath Singh were scheduled to address a Sangarsh Samiti rally in Jammu on August 25 and the BJP had claimed on Monday the two leaders were “invited” by the Samiti to address the rally. On Tuesday, the party talked about some miscommunication and the need for “proper consultations” before the programme is fixed.

Three days ago, at a press conference here, VHP leader Pravin Togadia specifically stated that the Parishad would not allow any political party to derive electoral mileage from the protests in Jammu. He indicated that the VHP would not allow the leadership of the agitation to go into the BJP’s hands. The VHP, he added, would not make the mistake it did on the Ayodhya issue when the “movement” it started went into the BJP’s hands.

The hostility between Mr. Advani and VHP leaders, including Mr. Togadia and Mr. Ashok Singhal, is well acknowledged in the Sangh Parivar. To a large extent, the BJP was also kept from “leading” the agitation on the Ram Setu issue. A ‘yatra’ proposed to take place from Delhi to Kanyakumari on the Setu issue had to be dropped as a result of these hostilities.

A couple of days before the BJP office bearers’ meeting on Monday, there was a proposal was for a BJP ‘yatra’ from Delhi to Jammu. The question arose as to who would lead it — Mr. Advani or Mr. Singh — and the idea was dropped. Then came the plan for the two leaders to jointly address a rally in Jammu about which there is now some uncertainty.

Mr. Togadia, who is to address another press conference here on Wednesday, is expected to shed some more light on the internal politics of the Sangh Parivar in relation to the Amarnath land transfer issue.

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