Stiff upper lips all around as report "exposes" RSS game

And it credits the revelation to none other than Govindacharya, already in thick of controversy over his earlier remarks to the same diplomat describing Vajpayee as merely a “mask” and a “loudspeaker”.

Nonplussed BJP leaders are not quite sure how to handle the new bombshell in their midst. The ascerbic general secretary, Kushabhau Thakre, was perturbed enough to abandon his usual Hindi and describe the report as “pure humbug”.

The man in the eye of the storm, Govindacharya, dissolved into high-pitched giggles and asked, “Why me? Answer me this: why me?”

The silence from Vajpayee and Advani is deafening. Both are reported to have procured copies of the hot document and now are obviously wondering what to do about it.

BJP circles believe that the report is concocted. But it is done in such a marvellous manner, with the right British ring to give it an air of authenticity, that a wee bit of anxiety is creeping in about the identity of the mischiefmaker.

“Acharya is a rather queer chap…..A bit eccentric but pragmatic nevertheless,” the paper says. “Went to great lengths to reassure us that under LKA’s disposition the BJP’s commitment to the European Union would remain sacrosanct and that the interests of the Common Market would be fully protected notwithstanding the drivel about `Swadeshi’ which Acharya held is totally irrelevant in India’s economic development.”

Pure dynamite in the RSS-BJP context, cleverly calculated to drive a wedge between the two. Little wonder that the British High Commission has staunchly denied it as “ridiculous”.

The last time round, when newspapers published excerpts of Govindacharya’s comments to its diplomats on Vajpayee, the High Commission was rapped on its knuckles by the BJP leadership.

The party took up the matter with High Commissioner David Gore-Booth himself, saying the activities of his diplomats amounted to interference in its internal affairs.

The BJP also demanded a full transcript from the High Commission of the conversation between Govindacharya and the two diplomats who met him. The mission, anxious not to get embroiled in further controversy, is believed to have sent back a sanitised version that differed with Govindacharya’s own explanation to his leaders!

The hapless general secretary is soon to be transferred back to his parent organisation, the RSS, which is apparently furious with him for rubbishing its swadeshi plank.

But the latest missive poses a far greater problem for the BJP – to identify the unknown enemy whose dirty tricks department has succeeded in promoting internal warfare.