Advani, Atal snub allies, meet RSS top brass

While the BJP has always been a member of the Sangh, party leaders had distanced themselves — at least in public — from the RSS in the years of NDA rule. Vajpayee, in fact, rarely visited Jhandewalan and RSS leaders had to go to his official residence.

Today, both Vajpayee and Advani held talks lasting over two hours with, as one swayamsevak put it, ‘‘the RSS Cabinet minus Sudarashan’’. RSS general secretary Mohan Bhagwat, joint general secretary Madan Das Devi, and senior ideologue H V Sehsadri were present at the meeting.

They discussed the RSS’s political agenda that will be ratified at the Hardwar meet. While the Ram Mandir issue is not on the immediate agenda, the RSS is determined to raise the pitch on issues such as ‘‘infiltration’’ of Bangladeshis, increase in ‘‘religious conversions’’, and the ‘‘alarming’’ rise in Muslim population as shown in the latest census figures, sources said.

Talking to reporters later, RSS spokesman Ram Madhav said the Sangh expected the BJP to ‘‘take a clear stand on ideology’’. On the criticism made by NDA allies against the BJP’s return towards Hindutva, Madhav said it was for the BJP leadership ‘‘to handle the situation’’.

As part of ‘‘handling the situation’’, Advani will speak to NDA convenor George Fernandes on the JD(U)’s reservations about his speech at the BJP National Council meeting on reviving the Ayodhya issue.

But more than the semantics about the Ram Temple, the main reason for the growing disquiet among NDA partners is the BJP’s undisguised return to the RSS fold and agenda. The JD(U) is particularly concerned because an electoral alliance with the BJP in its new avatar could prove costly in the upcoming Bihar elections, sources said.

BJP leaders are dismissive about this possibility on the grounds that the JD(U) has little choice in Bihar. With Ram Vilas Paswan unwilling to come on board and the Congress and Left parties set to remain part of the RJD-led alliance, the JD(U) cannot afford to further fracture the ‘‘anti-Laloo’’ vote by ditching the BJP, they feel.

As one RSS swayamsevak put it, ‘‘Byaaj ke chakkar mein, mool thodi gavayenge (for the sake of interest, we are not going to forego the principal).’’ In other words, now that the BJP is out of power it needs the RSS and Hindutva more than moderation and NDA.