RSS slipping into vacant Opp space

The detractors of the Sangh Parivar feel that with the BJP slipping in many states, and the Congress unable to get its act together, to launch an attack on the BJP is a good ploy by the RSS. In the process, the RSS is also trying to hijack the Gandhian legacy — Sudershan lauded Gandhi’s rural-centric approach — at a time when nobody is prepared to do anything but pay lip-service to what the Mahatma had stood for.

Madan Dass Devi, joint general secretary of the RSS who has been coordinating between the BJP and Sangh since Sudershan took over as RSS chief, reacted sharply to the idea. In a chat with The Indian Express today, Devi retorted: “If this is part of a plan, then are others who are silent about the issues we are raising also part of the plan?”

Jawaharalal Nehru was adept at deflecting the Opposition by himself taking bureaucrats or others in his government to task for not coming up to scratch. In the late Sixties and early Seventies, the Young Turks in the Indira Gandhi’s government were an effective Opposition within the Congress.

Today, the Congress is not just a B team of the BJP but also a pale version of it at that. It is still not able to decide whether the new economic policies it put into motion nine years ago have hurt the poor and its electoral prospects.

Another far-reaching aspect of the Mahashibir was the renewed and aggressive campaign launched by the RSS to consolidate the Hindutva forces. In the last three days, it reached out to 6,004 mandals out of the 7,500 that exist in 16 districts of UP, bringing together 50,000 people from an area covering only a quarter of the state.

It was also clear that the RSS is keeping the Ayodhya issue alive only in token, in deference to its hardcore supporters in Uttar Pradesh, while realising that it has lost its potency for a large number of people who supported the BJP. Though the RSS has stood for the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya, leaving the details to the VHP, it realises this is neither going to yield dividends nor going to be possible with the case in courts and the hands of the Government tied by its allies.

If the last week is any indication, conversions will be the central focus of the RSS’s campaign in the weeks to come. Sudershan’s valedictory in Agra and his Dussehra speech in Nagpur, which is seen as an annual policy statement of the Sangh, made this amply clear.

The presence of Home Minister L.K. Advani at the Mahashibir also gave an insight into the succession battle that is on in the BJP to prepare for an `After Vajpayee, Who?’ scenario. There is a sudden spurt in public polls to ascertain the popularity of different leaders besides Vajpayee.

On the one hand, Advani has been positioning himself as a moderate in the party who could be acceptable to the allies. On the other hand, he also felt compelled to reassure the RSS, though he cannot be unaware that the picture of him taking the Sangh salute in Agra would raise many an eyebrow amongst the allies. But then in recent months, the RSS has reportedly not been happy with the way he was casting himself in the Vajpayee mould.

Murli Manohar Joshi and Sushma Swaraj, whose name was mooted by Sudershan as a possible BJP chief, also went to the Mahashibir, but their presence was more low-key. Jaswant Singh, another contender for the top job, dashed off to Mumbai instead.

J.P. Mathur, former BJP vice-president, said quite categorically in response to questions: “For the BJP, next to Vajpayee, is Advani. I’m telling you about the general feeling in the party. There is no Number 3 or 4.”

Madan Dass Devi, when asked about Vajpayee’s successor, replied: “The BJP will decide. The RSS may be consulted, as it was when Vajpayee was selected as PM. Our view was and has been that the party people must decide together and that is acceptable to us.”