SJM restrained but VHP uncontrolled8217;

NEW DELHI, Feb 5: The VHP-sponsored Dharam Sansad, which began in Ahmedabad today, is expected to signal the Hindutva response to the ste...

NEW DELHI, Feb 5: The VHP-sponsored Dharam Sansad, which began in Ahmedabad today, is expected to signal the Hindutva response to the stern warning issued by the BJP-run coalition8217;s Coordination Committee earlier this week. BJP leaders are closely monitoring the deliberations for the Sansad, which is much more than just a religious congregation. Its outcome will determine the future course of the troubled relationship between the Government and the VHP, headed for a showdown over the increasing attacks on Christians.

BJP leaders draw a distinction between the VHP and the other troublemakers, namely the Swadeshi Jagran Manch. Although it was the swadeshi stand on the Insurance Bill that brought the fratricidal war in the Sangh Parivar out in the open, the BJP leadership feels that the VHP poses more of a problem than the SJM.

This is largely because Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has reopened channels of communication with main swadeshi ideologues, K S Sudershan and S Gurumurthy. Afterthe embarrassing confrontation during the Winter Session of the Parliament, Vajpayee launched a damage control exercise which saw Sudershan restarting his breakfast meetings with the Prime Minister.

Vajpayee is also in regular touch with Gurumurthy, and with the budget coming up, discussions are also on between Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha and the SJM.

The Prime Minister8217;s aides feel that, to a large extent, these steps have curbed the SJM8217;s hostility to the Government and they are keeping their fingers crossed that when the curtain rises on the Budget Session later this month, they will only have to deal with attacks from outside and not from within.

Tackling the VHP is another matter altogether. For one, the Prime Minister has no relationship whatsoever with the Parishad8217;s leadership. In fact, according to BJP insiders, tensions between Ashok Singhal and Vajpayee go back a long way.

BJP leaders recall one instance, around the time of the crisis in their first government in Gujarat, when Vajpayeeactually ordered Singhal out of a party meeting, saying the VHP did not belong in a BJP discussion.

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Although Home Minister L K Advani and the VHP shared a close relationship, developed during the heady days of the Ramjanambhoomi agitation, there are signs of strain now. The VHP has been increasingly critical of Advani8217;s Kashmir policy and the cracks really showed when the Home Minister expressed regret over the Parishad8217;s moment of glory, the demolition of the Babri Masjid.

Still, Advani is the only card Vajpayee has and it was played after the Coordination Committee hit out at the VHP. Advani called VHP leaders Singhal and Giriraj Kishore to his North Block office to discuss the upcoming Dharam Sansad and its implications, both for the fate of the Government and the future of the Parishad.

A Prime Ministerial aide said that Vajpayee is determined to take the VHP head on, unless it tones down its agitation against Christian minorities and the Coordination Committee8217;s joint statement is an indication ofhis intentions. But will the VHP listen? This is the million dollar question which will be answered at the end of the Dharam Sansad and the Government is watching anxiously.