A day after newly appointed BJP president L.K. Advani held discussions with the RSS top brass in Nagpur and participated in the Sangh’s annual Vijay Dashami rally, his senior colleague — and sometime rival — Murli Manohar Joshi hosted a meeting of high-profile VHP leaders at his residence this evening.The ostensible purpose of the meeting was to discuss the Babri Masjid demolition case currently pending before a special court in Rae Bareli. All the guests at Joshi’s house today — VHP chief Ashok Singhal, former firebrand sanyasin Sadhvi Rithambara, and former Bajrang Dal chief who was recently removed as UP BJP president Vinay Katiyar — are accused in the case.Besides Joshi, Singhal, Katiyar and Rithambara, their lawyers were also present at the meeting, sources said. Advani, who was acquitted by the special court when he was still deputy prime minister, was initially supposed to attend the meeting as well. But since it was essentially ‘‘a discussion among lawyers on the legal aspects of the case’’, he decided to skip it, sources close to him said.The main purpose of the meeting was to discuss legalities and not politics, sources at Joshi’s residence later told The Indian Express. They took pains to emphasise that it was a ‘‘routine meeting’’ and several similar discussions had taken place in the past. It had nothing to do with the change of guard in the BJP or the strained relations between the VHP and the BJP, they added.The meeting, nevertheless, assumes significance because it underlines the ‘‘great comfort level’’ shared by Murli Manohar Joshi with the VHP leadership. The VHP leaders, notably Ashok Singhal and Pravin Togadia, have been openly attacking the BJP — particularly former PM Atal Behari Vajpayee and Advani — for jettisoning Hindutva. They greeted the ascension of Advani to the top post last week with scorn, with Togadia accusing him of betraying the Hindu cause.Among the top BJP leaders, Joshi remains the Sangh Parivar’s (and particularly the VHP’s) favourite. Joshi, they feel, did the most in spreading Hindutva during his stint as HRD minister. In fact, many in the Parivar would have preferred Joshi to take over as BJP president — a move that was scuttled by BJP leaders who appointed Advani almost overnight as it were.With Advani seeking a rapprochement with the RSS, Joshi too could play a role in bringing the VHP on board in order to revive the Hindu undivided family again, it is felt.
