The resignation of Advani’s key aide Sudheendra Kulkarni—seen in some circles as a ‘‘peace offering’’ to appease irate hardliners in the Sangh Parivar—has failed to cut much ice with the VHP which remains firmly opposed to Advani remaining at the party’s helm.This was made clear by senior VHP leader Acharya Giriraj Kishore today in course of an interaction with reporters on the fallout of the Kulkarni resignation on the strained ties between BJP and the Parivar.Asked whether the VHP was satisfied with the ‘‘bali ka bakra (sacrificial lamb)’’ offered to them, Kishore replied, ‘‘Bakra to bada hota hain, yeh to murga tha (A lamb is big, this was only a chicken).’’In other words, Kulkarni was too small a fry and their target remained Advani. The VHP leader pointed out that it was not Kulkarni but the ‘‘leadership of the BJP’’ that was the subject of debate. And if Kulkarni had served as the ‘‘marg darshak’’ of the BJP, it only showed the ‘‘weakness’’ of the BJP leadership, he added.In reply to questions, Kishore also made it clear that the VHP had always believed in having a ‘‘Hindutvawadi’’ as the leader of the BJP, adding ‘‘Hum unko Hindutvawadi nahin maante hain (We do not consider Advani a proponent of Hindutva).’’ The VHP, he asserted, would only help the BJP if it had a Hindutva-minded leadership.Kishore also indicated that the organisation did not approve of the BJP chief’s decision to withdraw his resignation. ‘‘If I had written a letter of resignation, I would not have taken it back,’’ he said.While he claimed to have no knowledge of the ongoing deliberations at the RSS meet in Surat, Kishore’s frank expression of views indicate that the anti-Advani mood continues in sections of the Sangh Parivar.Kulkarni’s resignation, BJP sources said, was only a ‘‘first step’’ in repairing Advani’s strained ties with the RSS and its affiliates. Advani will have to do a lot more—a public reassertion of the importance of RSS and Hindutva—to regain the support of the Parivar and retain his twin posts of BJP chief and Leader of Opposition, party insiders said.
