The RSS8217;s natural choice

Only once before in the history it shares with the Bharatiya Jan Sangh, has the BJP had an RSS pracharak as itsnational president and that was when Deen Dayal Upadhyay took over party presidentship in the 1960s. The RSS pracharak hailing from Dhar, Madhya Pradesh, prefers to lead by example. He is known for his spartan lifestyle, as his one-room tenement at the party headquarters in the Capital on 11, Ashoka Road bears witness to.

Although he is not widely known outside the five states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan, people who are familiar with his work, swear by his organisational abilities. Party workers point out that BJP in Madhya Pradesh could spread its network to each and every village in the State only because of Thakre8217;s hard work.

In the first assembly elections that were held in 1957 8212; the State was created only a year earlier the Bharatiya Jana Sangh was relegated to the fourth spot, after the Congress, Praja Socialist Party, the CPI and the Hindu Mahasangh. Thakre and a small band of other equally determined party workers, threw themselves into the task ofchanging this situation. When elections came around in 1962, the party had inched its way up to the runners-up slot. According to old-timers within the party, Thakre and his men did this largely by co-opting other political formations within the Jana Sangh fold. 8220;This is the reason why there is a virtual two-party rule in Madhya Pradesh,8221; a senior journalist said.

His organisational abilities were recognised quite early by senior leaders within the RSS. He became the national secretary of the Jan Sangh in 1967 and then again in 1974. He spent a good 19 months in jail during the emergency and later contested the only election in his life in 1978. In 1977 during the Janata rule in Madhya Pradesh, it was Thakre who led the party while Virendra Saklecha led the government. In 1984, he became vice-president of the BJP for two years. In 1986, senior RSS leader Bhaurao Deoras asked him to shift base from Madhya Pradesh to New Delhi and become the party8217;s general secretary. Thakre is characteristically modestabout his years of work for the party. 8220;I am just an instrument. I am just a small worker of the party,8221; he maintains.

In August 1997, when Thakre8217;s name first came up as a potential party president, the BJP was unsure when the mid-term elections would take place. By November, when party presidential elections were due, the general elections appeared round the corner and Thakre was asked to wait until they were over for purposes of ensuring that there was some continuity in leadership.

Interestingly, both Prime Minister Vajpayee and Thakre had parallel careers of a kind. Both joined the RSS in the 8217;40s, joined the Jan Sangh in 8217;51, went to the same Victoria College in Gwalior and attended the same Naya Bazaar Shakha as RSS cadres. Incidentally, they also decided to remain bachelors. Today, 50 years after they first set out, one of them heads the government and the other, the ruling party.

But Thakre has also had to face his share of controversy. In his years as general secretary with Madhya Pradesh ashis charge, he clearly lost some of his sheen as being something of a pitru purush fatherly figure when factionalism raised its head within the party and two opposing groups emerged. His marked affection for Sunderlal Patwa and treasurer Kailash Sarang resulted in alienating other party workers in the State who grouped around Laxmi Narayan Pandey, Uma Bharati and Sunder Singh Bhandari. Unfortunately, to this day Thakre is identified with the L.K. Advani group within the party.

Even before Thakre8217;s formal nomination to the post, some allegedly owing allegiance to the Vajpayee faction within the party are supposed to have opposed his nomination tooth and nail. There were also those who felt that Bhairon Singh Shekhawat8217;s Machiavellian talents would do the party good at this juncture. But the RSS leadership had, as always, the last word on the matter and put its clout behind him.

The RSS no doubt calculated that Thakre8217;s unobtrusive style of functioning, his unselfish, undemanding ways and his formidableorganisational abilities could prove a boon for the BJP. A senior pracharak in Madhya Pradesh put it this way: 8220;It may still take some years but leaders like Thakre have brought the party to its present position, Atal has been the star but the Thakres have provided the substance.8221;

On his part, Thakre is determined to insulate the party from the government. 8220;We are not dependent on anyone,8221; he says, 8220;We do not need the government8217;s help to expand the party8217;s base.8221; For the moment, he will try and concentrate on consolidating the gains made by the BJP. 8220;We have to reach every nook and corner of the country. Vikas vertical growth and vistar horizontal expansion these are going to be our focal points,8221; he asserts.