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BJP considers ways to rein in the Sangh Parivar

George Iype in Bangalore

The two-day meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party National Executive began in Bangalore on Saturday with the party making three New Year resolutions: To give itself a face-lift, to rein in the Sangh Parivar, and to improve the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government's performance.

The meeting, attended by the prime minister, Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani, senior ministers and politicians from across the country, was inaugurated by party president Shashikant 'Kushabhau' Thakre.

Thakre set the tone for a possible review of relations between the party and its coalition partners, stating that "the BJP cannot become captive to the immediate compulsions" of satisfying its allies for a long time.

While he did not explicitly demand an immediate change in the shape of the coalition, his colleagues said the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh had advised him to warn Vajpayee that his government had not yet given enough thought to the cause of Hindutva. The pending items that are a sore point with the Sangh are the construction of a Ram temple at the site of the razed Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, enactment of a uniform civil code, and scrapping of Article 370 of the Constitution.

Thakre also criticised the coalition for "not feeling the pulse of the people" as the government did not respond with alacrity and promptness to tackle immediate problems like the prices of essential commodities and vegetables that rose dramatically last year.

"It cannot be denied that the price rise did play a role when the voters exercised their choice in the assembly elections in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Mizoram," the BJP president said.

"In a sense, it was a collective failure, both on the part of the party as well as the government. We were unable to effectively communicate to the people the reasons behind and the transitory nature of the price rise," he told the national executive committee. The respective state units also submitted their reports on the reasons for the setback.

While the state units said the Centre's delay in arresting the price rise was the main cause of the debacle, they also placed some of the blame on the anti-incumbency factor in Delhi and Rajasthan.

The meeting also found organisational deficiencies and the tendency of some politicians to put themselves above the party as some "disturbing reasons" for the party's loss.

Politicians from across the states therefore suggested that a "new-look BJP" has to emerge since the party is heading a coalition government at the Centre.

"We feel that while keeping our ideology intact, we should try to lead the party in such a direction that it reaches the deprived and weaker sections of the society," general secretary K N Govindacharya told Rediff On The NeT.

"The party has to collaborate maximum with the government at the Centre to ensure that people's interests are protected. We are learning new lessons as to how to successfully lead a coalition government," he said.

While many politicians hope the 'new-look' BJP will be shaped before the next round of assembly elections in four states -- Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Goa and Sikkim -- later this year, how the party will identify itself with the Sangh Parivar remains a matter of heated debate among the seniors.

Some politicians, led by Thakre himself, feel that despite being part of a coalition, the Vajpayee government should revive the party's agenda, including contentious issues like Hindutva.

"Swadeshi and Hindutva are important themes for our future direction because the country is moving towards bipolar politics, with the BJP on the one side and the Congress on the other," a functionary said.

Some politicians admitted that in the recent past two issues -- swadeshi and increasing attacks on minorities -- have been causing the party to have differences with the Parivar.

The RSS leadership has questioned the government's version of swadeshi, which allows for liberalisation of the economy and opening up of sensitive sectors like insurance. Prime Minister Vajpayee is expected to give his version of what a swadeshi government should be like tomorrow.

"Ever since the government came to power, there has been an ideological rift between the RSS, a section of BJP leaders, and the Vajpayee government. Our effort is to settle these differences because they are dangerous for the stability and continuance of the government," a senior BJP politician told Rediff On The NeT.

The BJP leadership and the Vajpayee government, which have been particularly disturbed by the violence against Christians in Gujarat, are eager to rein in the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, which has come out openly against Christian missionaries in the country.

"The VHP is a cultural organisation. We have said time and again that the BJP is a political party and we have nothing to do the statements of the VHP," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Madan Lal Khurana told Rediff On The NeT.

But, he said, since the criminal incidents have occurred in a BJP-ruled state, the national executive will discuss the Gujarat situation on Sunday.

While the Gujarat chief minister is expected to brief the national executive members on the communal clashes in the past one week, Advani will list the actions taken by the Centre.

Lack of co-ordination between the government and the party is one crucial issue that party members deliberated. Many said the performance of the coalition government has been affected by personality clashes regarding the implementation of the national agenda of governance.

To ensure better co-ordination between the government and the party, senior politicians, led by vice-president Jana K Krishnamurthy, have recommended appointing key party functionaries to exchange views with various central ministries.

A similar co-ordination mechanism will be put together in the BJP-ruled states with the chief ministers co-ordinating with the party president in New Delhi.

"Harmonious functioning between the government and the party is essential for the success of the coalition. We will find a solution for this in this national executive," senior vice-president Krishen Lal Sharma told Rediff On The NeT.

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