K.S. Sudershan has been treading a minefield of controversies ever since he took over as RSS sarsanghchalak last March. Starting with his suggestion to Indianise Islam and Christianity to the "bomb theory" on the Babri Masjid demolition, almost all his statements evoked varied reactions ranging from anger to sniggers. His latest salvo against the prime minister's men—Brajesh Mishra, N.K. Singh and foster son-in-law Ranjan Bhattacharya—was seen as a direct attack on Atal Behari Vajpayee. Already knee-deep in the Tehelka crisis, the pmo's public denial forced Sudershan to retract his charge about the "extra-constitutional authority" in the prime minister's house. His retraction was preceded by an all-out criticism from within the rank and file—probably the first time in the history of RSS that the sarsanghchalak came under criticism from his own swayamsevaks.
Even though resentment exists in the RSS about Vajpayee's style of functioning, it was felt that criticising the government at an hour of crisis would mean helping the Congress and the communists. However, Sudershan sticks to his stand that "more competent" people should be inducted in the pmo. The RSS sarsanghchalak spoke to Rajesh Joshi. Excerpts: