Seize the crisis

But the 8216;8216;Advani hatao8217;8217; campaign could not have been sustained and brought to fruition by a small bunch of disgruntled elements within the party. The epicenter of the crisis was the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh itself. A section of RSS leaders has come to look upon the BJP as its own political arm and, therefore, would like the world to believe that whatever success the party has achieved so far is largely due to the contribution of the various siblings in the Sangh Parivar. For this section of leaders in the RSS and, especially the VHP, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the BJP8217;s founder president and also its tallest leader, was always a renegade, one who did nothing for the cause of 8216;8216;Hindutva8217;8217; during his six years at the helm. Hence, as soon as he was out of office, he became the target of public criticism and derision by no less a person than the RSS chief, who even signaled that 8220;Atalji should now retire from politics8221;. In doing so, he showed scant respect for the feelings of not only the rank and file of the BJP, most 8212; I repeat, most 8212; of whom have no association whatsoever with the RSS, but also of millions of non-BJP admirers of the former prime minister.

However, this section of RSS and VHP leaders wanted not only Vajpayee but also Advani to 8220;retire8221;. For he, too, was increasingly being seen as 8220;undependable8221;. Recall the ruckus they created over Advani8217;s entirely factual comments on Jinnah. Recall, too, how they did not join the national debate on Jinnah and the Partition tragedy in any cogent and enlightening manner. They apparently believed that noise, and not rational arguments, was all that was needed to nail Advani and to justify their allegation that he had committed 8220;unacceptable ideological deviation8221;. Then, throwing to the winds even the pretense of not interfering in the BJP8217;s personnel matters, the RSS leadership made it clear that it was time for Advani to quit. Thus, it was apparent even to the detractors of the BJP that Jinnah was only a bahana pretext. Their real goal: complete take-over of the BJP.

For a body that preaches discipline to the BJP, the transgression of organisational norms committed by the RSS chief himself was unprecedented. For more than three months, it was principally the RSS that caused the BJP to hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons. The amount of damage all this caused to the BJP8217;s prestige in so short a time has no parallel in the party8217;s 25 year-old history. And nothing has boosted the self-confidence of the Congress more than the RSS-inflicted wounds of the main opposition party. Nevertheless, when Advani finally announced his decision to demit the party post, his detractors in the Sangh Parivar projected it as a victory for the RSS. 8220;Now everybody knows who8217;s the boss,8221; they exulted.

What is baffling even sympathisers of the RSS is how its leaders seem not to care about the enormous harm their control-the-BJP exercise has caused to the Sangh8217;s own public standing and its chosen mission of character-building and promotion of patriotism. Some of the corrupting influences of too close an involvement in politics, through micro-managing the affairs of the BJP, are distorting the vision of the Sangh functionaries. But the present BJP-RSS fit is hurting the latter in another less-debated manner.

Is it, for example, a secret that the RSS has become a virtual pariah for all the non-BJP parties in the country? How many non-BJP leaders share a platform with RSS leaders publicly? When is the last time you saw a prominent RSS leader excluding the non-conformist Nanaji Deshmukh invited by a non-BJP minister in a state or at the Centre for consultation on any subject? It will be tempting for the RSS to explain this away by claiming that all the non-BJP parties are anti-Hindu and bitten by the bug of Muslim appeasement. But the truth lies elsewhere.

The truth lies in the RSS8217;s exclusive, almost proprietary, relationship with the BJP, as is evident from the long tradition of RSS cadres campaigning only for BJP candidates in elections. This has understandably alienated the RSS from other political parties, thus restricting the spread of the Sangh8217;s influence across the country8217;s political and social spectrum. The truth also lies in the fact that the Sangh8217;s Hindu-only concept of nationalism has no appeal not only for non-Hindus, but also for many Hindus themselves. By trying to impose this narrow nationalism on the BJP, and making it impossible for the latter to reach out to Indian Muslims and Christians in a consistent, sustained and earnest manner, the RSS is also limiting the growth of the BJP to its full potential.

For an organisation that claims to be committed to nation-building and has many admirable qualities never mind the attempts by the communists and other Hindu-baiters to demonise it, the RSS has scarcely introspected publicly on why its influence in India8217;s political, intellectual and public life remains so limited 8212; and rapidly shrinking. The RSS may or may not do such soul-searching. But if the BJP too shuns soul-searching, if it doesn8217;t pay heed to the hometruths spoken by Advani, its own space and influence in Indian politics will definitely shrink. If it does, the present crisis could mark a new beginning for the BJP and for non-Congress politics in India.

The writer is a former national secretary, BJP