New Delhi: For the first time after Nitin Gadkari — who was handpicked by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat — took charge as the BJP president, the RSS leadership and the BJP top brass on Tuesday indulged in a stocktaking exercise. Sources told The Indian Express that the Sangh chief is not pleased with the functioning of the party and its representatives did some plain speaking during the brainstorming.
“All is not well with the BJP,” was the message the RSS top brass — represented by Bhaiyyaji Joshi, Madandas Devi and Suresh Soni — delivered to the party leadership, it was learnt. The stress was on lack of coordination and cohesion among the BJP leaders and the dilution in its core nationalist outlook.
Sources said the RSS was not happy with the haste shown by the BJP leadership in re-inducting Jaswant Singh. It is known that his re-entry came at the instance of L K Advani and Gadkari also wanted him back. While Singh's homecoming was fast forwarded, leaders like Uma Bharti and Sanjay Joshi — both close to the RSS — are waiting for their turns. Efforts are on to bring Uma back into the party fold, sources said.
Though the Uma issue did not figure in the meeting — attended by top leaders including Advani, Gadkari, Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj, Venkaiah Naidu and Ananth Kumar — the RSS message was that Singh's re-entry should not have come before the others. Besides, the return of Singh, who was expelled for hailing Pakistan founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah, was in many ways a compromise on the ideology. Significantly, Singh has held on to his views even after his return.
The question of BJP's support to caste-based census is another red rag for the RSS, which has opposed the move. It feels that caste-based headcount would weaken the sense of Indian nationhood and goes against its ideological position for a caste-less society. The RSS, sources said, resented the stand taken by the party and was unhappy with leaders speaking in different voices on the issue.
The meeting also saw the RSS leadership interacting with the BJP leaders on the its performance as the main opposition party. Terrorism and Maoist menace also came up for discussion.
