Children For Sale
For as little as Rs 3,000, impoverished parents sell their children to adoption centres and unscrupulous operators in Andhra Pradesh, who in turn earn up to Rs 3 lakh from foster families. A look at the people involved, the law and where the process went wrong.

Amma Turns Red
J. Jayalalitha's hopes for contesting the elections have been dashed with the rejection of her nomination papers. But this does not deter her from stepping up her campaigning efforts for the AIADMK and assuming an aggressive stance.

Past Tense
The muted reaction of the Government to the massacre of the BSF troops raises many questions. A look at the past skirmishes between the BSF and BDR gives an insight into what led to the heightening of tension at the border.

Coming To Life
With the end of state monopoly, private insurance companies are offering wider risk coverage and better customer relations.

Starting Over
It's been three months since nature shook Gujarat, killing over 30,000 and shattering dreams. Despite government promises and generosity of individuals, rehabilitation is still to touch the lives of many. The story in pictures.

THE NATION: RSS

Sudarshan moves base back to Nagpur, giving Vajpayee a freer hand in political management

Perhaps the most frequently interviewed sarsanghchalak in the history of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), K.S. Sudarshan will henceforth be less available to the national media. He will move focus from Delhi to the Sangh's traditional headquarters in Nagpur. While some interpret this as a dramatic shift, the Sangh itself sees it as the culmination of a gradual corrective process.

"The sarsanghchalak's office has been in Nagpur since 1925," says Seshadri Chari, editor of the RSS newspaper Organiser, "there's no question of it ever having moved in the first place." Being Maharashtrian Brahmins, the first three RSS chiefs-K.B. Hedgewar, M.S. Golwalkar and Balasaheb Deoras-were comfortable there. Having grown up in Allahabad, however, the fourth chief, Rajendra Singh or "Rajju Bhaiyya", spent a good part of his term (1994-2000) in Delhi and north India. As the link between the RSS and the BJP, Sudarshan too was based in the capital. After he succeeded Rajju Bhaiyya the geographical preference seemed to persist-and brought with it the angularities.

Sudarshan's topsy-turvy relationship with the BJP leadership, particularly with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, is well known. Never a diplomat, rarely short of an opinion and always accessible, "Sudarshanji's strengths," says a confidant, "may have become the organisation's weaknesses".

As early as March 1998, even before he became the RSS chief, Sudarshan had vetoed Jaswant Singh's nomination as finance minister. That was only the early skirmish. In more recent times, says a senior BJP minister, "the sarsanghchalak has allowed himself to be surrounded by all sorts of characters, even business-house lobbyists".

With economic philosophy not quite a Sangh core competence, Sudarshan's interventions in this area were mystifying. These included pointed suggestions on Direct-To-Home Television (DTH)-which an Indian-owned media conglomerate inimical to Rupert Murdoch was trying to scuttle-privatisation, WTO and foreign investment in specific sectors. In particular, Sudarshan's patronage of S. Gurumurthy, Swadeshi Jagran Manch ideologue, caused misgivings in Government circles.

While nobody accuses Sudarshan of personal ambition, the charitable explanation is that "he is an impressionable man". "One of the great things about the RSS," points out an old-time pracharak, "is that even the juniormost swayamsevak can meet the sarsanghchalak." This was a virtue in the days when the Sangh was a smaller band but "with the BJP now in power, perhaps it would be better if the sarsanghchalak kept a certain distance".

The willingness to get into a conversation with virtually anyone who walked into his room-"That is Sudarshan's temperament," says an old associate, "you can't change it"-and lend an ear to every sort of conspiracy theory had its consequences. Sudarshan recommended candidates for Rajya Sabha seats. He approached the prime minister directly when a lowly Delhi Development Authority official sought a bribe from a Vishwa Hindu Parishad sympathiser. When a north-eastern bureaucrat visited him to complain that her joint secretary had an irrational dislike for her, Sudarshan called the finance minister and, finally, 7 Race Course Road, to have "unfair remarks" expunged from the lady's ACR (Annual Confidential Report). G.V.G. Krishnamurthy, the former election commissioner, was sent a bill of almost

Rs 35,000 for overstaying in his official residence. A temporarily furious Sudarshan asked Vajpayee to sack Urban Affairs Minister Jagmohan.

Sudarshan's friends say he is guilty of nothing more than corporate loyalty. Krishnamurthy apparently won the eternal gratitude of a section of the RSS when he sent extra troops to Bihar for the 1999 election. With unfair practices minimised, even Laloo Prasad Yadav lost in Madhepura. A dispassionate observer sees things a little differently: "The sarsanghchalak is not expected to personally make such demands however justified they may be. It is just not done. Guruji (Golwalkar) or Balasaheb Deoras wouldn't have done it."

MetroScape

Focusing On Art
The brief for participants at
"Exhibit 'A' 2001" organised by the
200-member
Photographers'
Guild of India at the Nehru Centre, Mumbai, was clear—no advertisement and portfolio photos. more...

Looking Glass

Delhi Poster:
One Page Classics

Calcutta Pub:
London Pub

Bangalore & Mumbai Rock Concert:
Bryan Adams

West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya reflected optimism about winning the state election when he spoke to INDIA TODAY Senior Editor Sumit Mitra at the CPI(M) headquarters in Kolkata, minutes before rushing off for campaigning.
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