Chief’s foot in mouth, RSS just cannot swallow

Sudarshan’s sweeping remarks on Vajpayee, BJP chief L.K. Advani, Vajpayee’s son-in-law Ranjan Bhattacharya, Brajesh Mishra and even the Sangh’s erstwhile favourite Uma Bharati has forced the RSS to go on the defensive.

For the first time, it is not the BJP but the RSS which is apologetic about its chief’s conduct. That is why the much-respected RSS general secretary Mohan Bhagwat, tipped to take over as sarsanghchalak, himself issued a statement in defence of Vajpayee and Advani today. The statement, read out by RSS spokesman Ram Madhav, said: ‘‘The RSS has always held the leadership of Sri Vajpayee and Sri Advani in high esteem and maintained that the party needs their guidance and leadership always.’’

It lauded Advani’s ‘‘yeoman’’ contribution and noted that in the past few months, the BJP ‘‘is trying to reorganise itself well under his leadership…The RSS is of the firm view that he should continue as the President of the party’’.

Furious BJP leaders were constantly in touch with the RSS top brass — including Mohan Bhagwat, veteran ideologue H.V. Seshadri, Madan Dass Devi et al — since last night to work out a joint strategy of damage control.

The attack on Vajpayee’s prime ministership galvanised the BJP leadership by evening. Party sources said the office-bearers who met at Advani’s residence unanimously decided ‘‘enough was enough’’ and they would ‘‘stand like a rock’’ behind the man who led them in their glory years and was now in semi-retirement.

‘‘For the first time, it is not us but the Sangh which is a divided house,’’ a BJP leader said, hinting Sudarshan’s leadership was itself under a cloud. After all, if the ‘‘age factor’’ is cited in the case of Advani and Vajpayee, it can be held up for 74-year-old Sudarshan as well, an angry BJP member said.

The RSS chief has come under attack from another quarter also. His comment that Uma Bharati had a good side to her because she must have been a ‘‘yogi’’ in her last birth but a bad side because she was born in an ‘‘uncultured’’ family has raised the hackles of Uma’s elder brother, Swami Lodhi. TV reports said Lodhi accused the RSS chief of harbouring a ‘‘brahminical’’ mindset.