The Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) appears to be upset with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief LK Advani yet again. This time for shielding Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi against the dissident onslaught. |
Modi, once a mascot for Hindutva, has now fallen out of favour with the RSS for two important reasons. The first reason is his contentious relations with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) in Gujarat, which has been characterised by the revival of 2002 riots related cases against VHP workers. |
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The second reason is that it was Modi who had mobilised the second-rung of the BJP leadership for paving the way for Advani's return as the party chief after the Jinnah controversy in June this year. |
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According to sources, Advani's praise of Modi's record as an administrator appeared to be an open challenge to the RSS to do its worst. "The fight between the VHP and Modi has become vicious and the RSS cannot ignore that. The RSS and the VHP units are closely allied in Gujarat," said a top source in the organisation. |
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"Part of the reason, Modi defended Advani was that he himself found it difficult to manoeuvre in Gujarat due to the heavy presence of the VHP. That is why when Pravin Togadia demanded Advani's head in the Jinnah controversy, Modi defended Advani," said a source. |
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"Modi used the reasoning that if the loony fringe of the Parivar, as represented by the VHP, would be allowed to have its way in the BJP, the party would be in real trouble," the source added. |
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Meanwhile, Advani's troubles outside his party are also not declining. In a display of divergent opinions, Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar demanded reservations for Dalit Christians and Muslims. This caught BJP members off the guard. While some BJP members protested, Kumar attributed it to the fact that the two parties had a separate ideology. |
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Afterwards, BJP spokesperson VK Malhotra tried to make little of the incident saying it was "just a difference of opinion". "If we had to agree on everything, would we not be one party?" he remarked. Most BJP leaders dismiss Kumar's remark as positioning for the Bihar Assembly polls. |
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But after the TDP and the Akali Dal deciding to raise their own issues, the BJP can be expected to fear the worst as far as the NDA is concerned. |
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