The Nation: BJP; Sangh vs Sanghi

India Today
Sep 14,1998

BJP
Sangh Vs Sanghi

The criticism of the BJP-led Government by the Swadeshi Jagran Manch has brought family differences into the open.

By Saba Naqvi Bhaumik

A B Vajpayee For five months, the BJP Government has gone to sleep every night dreading the next morning's quota of bad news. So long, it was AIADMK general secretary J. Jayalalitha who provided it. But last week, it was Big Brother, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), who gave it a rude jolt. The missive this time was sent by the Swadeshi Jagran Manch -- a front organisation of the Sangh Parivar -- which launched a scathing attack on the economic policies of the Atal Bihar Vajpayee Government. Virtually accusing it of compromising national interests, it threatened a mass protest if several economic decisions were not reviewed. The threat held an ominous tone because it had the sanction of the top Sangh leadership, including K.S. Sudarshan, tipped to succeed the ailing Rajendra Singh or Rajju Bhaiyya as sarsanghchalak of the RSS.

Treats from such high quarters are not what the Government can afford to take lightly. Proof was available as early as March when a midnight call from Sudarshan was all it took to force Vajpayee to reverse his decision to appoint Jaswant Singh as his finance minister. Last week, the Sangh was once again trying to impose its will on Vajpayee. The question now is whether Vajpayee, an old swayamsevak, will heed the command or continue to chart an independent course. That the RSS has been trying to dictate terms to the Government is no secret. But what the Government and Vajpayee find worrisome is that the organisation, while holding a pistol to its forehead, is unable to come up with credible alternatives. Basically a cultural organisation, the RSS brims with people having limited skills in any given field. Thus, while there are many who command the respect of the cadres within the organisation, outside they are mostly perceived as novices. The swayamsevak who sits in South Block now is not unaware of these shortcomings, which perhaps explains why Vajpayee did not induct any of them into key cabinet positions.

The Swadeshi hardliners' main target is former revenue secretary N.K. Singh. Ever since the budget fiasco over the petrol price -- when the Government was forced to roll back prices within 24 hours after a massive hike was announced -- they have accused Singh of deliberately tripping up the BJP. Their irritation turned into anger when Vajpayee drafted Singh into the PMO and, more recently, made him the member secretary of the two crucial economic committees attached to the PMO. The fact that Sudarshan went public with his criticism of the Government is a clear indication of the RSS' anger at being ignored by the PMO.

According to senior RSS leaders, the latest outburst is the the RSS' attempt to make it clear to the Government that being a cadre-driven party, the BJP should not take its cooperation for granted, specially in states where elections are due later this year. In virtually every state that it is in power, the BJP is faction-ridden. RSS leaders believe only a disciplined approach -- which only they impart -- can help the party in crucial states like Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

Critics, however, rubbish the RSS claims to discipline and say that the organisation, which is tasting the fruits of power at the Centre for the first time, is showing signs of bidding goodbye to ideology. It is more interested in mundane things like having a say in key appointments and postings. For example, the RSS was keen that its resident economists like Jagdish Shettigar and Jay Dubashi be a part of Vajpayee's think tank, but he would rather keep them at an arm's length. Insiders in the BJP and the RSS now say it is too simplistic to talk of an open war between the Sangh and the PMO.

Besides, the real target is not Vajpayee, but members of his inner circle. Seshadri Chari, editor of RSS mouthpiece Organiser, says, "The RSS could be sending a signal to the PMO and the bureaucracy. It is not as if the Sangh hauls up a senior swayamsevak and leader like Vajpayee. Things don't operate that way." Sources in the Sangh Parivar say it all boils down to a battle to control the formulation of policies and the appointment of personnel in key departments. "Jaswant Singh would have been too independent to the liking of the RSS which believes in the dictum that if he is not one of us, he is against us," says a source in the BJP. But having risen from a mere party leader to the country's prime minister, Vajpayee has made it clear that his primary responsibility is to the post that he now holds and not to the one he once held.

Adding an intriguing element to the entire episode were the public utterances of Union Human Resource Development Minister M. M. Joshi. The Swadeshi hawk jumped into the fray not to promote his pet economic philosophy but to defend the Government. This could be interpreted as Joshi expressing his solidarity with Vajpayee at a time when whispers of "durbar wars" between the followers of the prime minister and Home Minister L.K. Advani are becoming stronger. Meanwhile, it's evident that Vajpayee is coping not just with an electoral ally but with an extra-constitutional ally that can be as difficult as Amma if ignored.

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