"I Am Very Angry..."

SRIKANT Joshi, a national executive member of the RSS, goes through his sarvang asana followed immediately by the bhujang asana in a room at the Mahal RSS office with such fierce rapidity that suggests he has other substantial tasks at hand. He is not any calmer by the end of the intensive yoga drill. "We have important matters to discuss at the chintan baithak (introspection conclave) which are going to have a weighty bearing on the functioning of the Sangh," he mutters, dashing out of the room and disappearing into one of the communal toilets.

K.S. Sudershan, the Sangh's general secretary, looks visibly irritated. Stepping out of the RSS office after a hurried meeting with his leader, Rajju Bhaiya, he stoutly refuses to comment on the performance and future of the BJP government or on its style of functioning. "What do you want? Yes, I am very angry (at the BJP government) but I will not say a word till we finish with this conclave," he barks. Similar is the reaction of the VHP's grey eminence, Giriraj Kishore, who says with an uncharacteristic reticence: "These are internal matters. We have nothing to say."

 Such were the uneasy feelings in the minds of many top RSS functionaries and 400 leaders of its 38 affiliates as they arrived for the five-day shake-up exercise on December 9 at Reshimbagh's Smriti Bhavan. This key meet, being held on such a mammoth scale after nine years—the last one was held during Dr K. Hedgewar's centenary year—was certainly a time for introspection. On how the Sangh would face up to the BJP—go slow on its agitational ways or push harder.

Needless to say, the BJP's drubbing at the assembly polls; its tough advocation of the insurance bill; and dissension within the party dominated the proceedings. But more importantly, the future course of Vajpayee's government and the course the Sangh should set itself, without, if possible, undermining the political strength of  its strongest agency, were the key issues before the Kendriya Karyakari Mandal on December 14, comprising 40 members.

Insiders point out that there are two schools of thought within the Sangh on this momentous move, on which will hinge the future of the BJP at the Centre. Some have even gone to the extent of suggesting to the RSS leadership not to put all its political eggs in the BJP basket.

In their pre-conclave confabulations, a section within the Sangh, which includes an embittered Nanaji Deshmukh of Deendayal Institute and another frontline leader, Dattopant Thengari, architect of the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh and the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch, felt the raison d'étre of the RSS was proving fragile. This has been largely demonstrated, they claimed, by the functioning of the BJP government in Delhi that was straying from the symbiotic links with the Sangh. For instance, a distancing from the Hindutva plank, which the Sangh had assiduously built up over the years, and giving a free hand to "economic imperialism" would only erode its identity leading to disillusionment among the other constituents. "It could be the Insurance Regulatory Bill today and a few months down the line, if it remained in power, it could be opening another sector," remarks one hardliner.

An RSS leader points out that the BJP might be better off if it sticks to doing what it is best at—being an Opposition party. Battered already by assembly polls and struggling to balance its coalition partners, the BJP's image would only erode further if immediate measures were not undertaken. To heighten problems, the growing drift between the government and the BJP does not augur well. The corollary: the BJP would have a greater effect on the Sangh's cadre and promote ideological cohesiveness if it stayed out of power and came back in greater strength.

 BJP general secretary K. Govindacharya puts it more euphemistically: "Yes, governance has been a problem but there is also an unwilling bureaucracy to contend with. It (the party) cannot charter its own course of political action." In this situation then, where it can neither perform on its own terms nor opt out, an influential section believes that the government will fall after the Budget next year. This would be preceded by a politics of détente in another cabinet reshuffle next month. "This is what we see, but then this is a prognosis," says another hardliner. There is a stoic silence on whether the Sangh will help accelerate that process.

But Vajpayee was not the only one singled out for criticism. Sources say home minister L.K. Advani and party president Kushabhau Thakre weren't spared either. Then, RSS old-timers like Thengari and Moropant Pingle are riled by the nerve of several BJP ministers who claim to be fund-raisers for the Sangh (the reference being probably to Pramod Mahajan, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat et al) and therefore ask for a greater share in the overall decision-making process. A senior functionary points out that "these leaders are buying the silence of the Sangh parivar just because they provide us funds. There was a time when Dr Hedgewar declined financial help from a man of eminence like Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, saying that money cannot be the motivating factor in the RSS scheme. Time has come to assert this again."

 But again, there are others who feel the RSS should support the BJP. Some RSS leaders feel the Sangh cannot afford to adopt the "Big Brother" attitude simply because of some "glitches" in the BJP's governance. Rajju Bhaiya is credited with leading this school of thought, but hardliners like his possible successor Sudershan do not agree entirely.

With sentiments running high, the con -clave was bound to see conflicting views. That there are divisions is an open secret. Now, the Sangh has to hammer out a strategy that will keep all its wings happy.