Former RSS chief K.S. Sudarshan appalled his own ideological fraternity when he expressed his bizarre theory about Sonia Gandhi. He accused her of being a CIA agent,and plotting the deaths of her husband and mother-in-law. The preposterousness of these remarks speaks for itself they are laughable ravings,not dangerous smears that must be engaged with. But the Congress seems to have decided that they must oppose this fringe lunacy with their own heated self-righteousness,saying no language can be more uncivilised than this and declaring Sudarshan a fossil from the archaeological museum. Congress workers also staged a demonstration outside the RSS headquarters,and protesting party MPs did their bit to stall Parliament. The BJP has put a safe and sensible distance between itself and the remarks,as has the Sangh. But the furore illustrates two things: the Congresss pathological and silly defensiveness about the Gandhis (even when they need no defending),and the BJPs uncomfortable relationship with its Sangh base. These remarks about Sonia Gandhi might be too unhinged even for the RSS,but the Sangh is all too familiar with the mindset that sees conspiracies everywhere. And their dark imaginings at least partly dictate the BJPs behaviour. For instance,instead of framing a responsible approach to the question of Hindu terror,the BJP has been caught on the backfoot,denying it altogether and pretending that it was a political ploy to isolate and shame the party. The RSS,of course,reacted with defiance and ferocity to the question. The BJPs attempt to project a moderate and governance-oriented image keeps stumbling on the RSS hurdle as long as it seeks to benefit by keeping that association alive,it will end up looking shifty when incidents like this occur. For its own sake and for right-of-centre politics,the BJP needs to demonstrate that it is not one unbroken continuum from the party to the Sanghs most radical outliers. It must,at the very least,clarify the lines that separate it from the RSS and other Sangh siblings.
