Narendra Modi is now threatening to become a bigger leader in the BJP than A.B. Vajpayee ever was, at least in some ways. This raises the question: can the RSS exert even the degree of control it had over Vajpayee on its new candidate for PM? And does the RSS need Modi more than the other way around? It was the RSS which chose Vajpayee as PM candidate in 1996, overlooking Advani. Later, it forced ABV to shift Jaswant Singh from the finance ministry in 1998. Till 2004, Sangh outfits like the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch, Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh and VHP kept up a volley of pinpricks to force ABV’s hand on economic and foreign policy issues. The then RSS chief had even called for the sack of Arun Shourie as disinvestment minister for the sale of some psus.