The Hindu : `Govt must accommodate Parivar views too'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 02, 2003

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National

`Govt must accommodate Parivar views too'

By Neena Vyas

NEW DELHI MAY 1. Improved coordination between various Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh affiliates is the mantra of the three-day conclave of around 55 top leaders of the Sangh organisations which began here today with the RSS chief, K.S. Sudershan, in the chair.

Leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Government were apparently told that if they can "take along'' with them their 23 or so coalition partners holding divergent views on various issues there should not be any difficulty in accommodating the views of Sangh organisations.

With elections round the corner, the BJP needs the Sangh's goodwill and active help during the campaign. The party can be expected to be more receptive to the Sangh's demands at this juncture.

The Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, the Human Resource Development Minister, Murli Manohar Joshi, the Law Minister, Arun Jaitley, the BJP president, Venkaiah Naidu, and several party general secretaries constituted the BJP's representation while among the senior RSS functionaries present were H.V. Seshadri, Mohan Bhagwat and Madan Das Devi. From the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Ashok Singhal and Praveen Togadia attended.

In the first session this morning the all-important issue of better coordination and the hammering out of "a common perspective'' on important national issues was taken up, the joint general secretary of the RSS in-charge of coordination among the Sangh affiliates, Madan Das Devi, who led the discussion, told the press later.

It was suggested that a committee of MPs be set up for each of the critical Ministries and these committees should "hold a dialogue'' with the Minister concerned and with RSS organisations working in related areas to explain and discuss policy, and fine-tune, if necessary. As Mr. Madan Das explained: "The Vajpayee Government is taking along with it the sometimes divergent views of all its coalition partners in Government it can and should coordinate with and take along the RSS organisations working in that field as well.''

No time-frame was announced for the setting up of these committees which may not be given formal shape. The idea was that a forum should be created where government policy can be discussed with Sangh organisations so that their point of view can also be understood and taken note of.

During the next two days a number of issues will be discussed — internal security issues (which were taken up this afternoon), the Prime Minister's offer of friendship to Pakistan, the Ayodhya imbroglio and the VHP's plan to get the support of MPs cutting across party lines for legislation to hand over the disputed complex to the VHP-led Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas. The VHP's `trishul deeksha' plan which has run aground in Rajasthan may also come up.

The initial reaction of the RSS to signs of thaw in the relationship with Pakistan was positive though cautious. "We want India to have friendly relations with its neighbours, we welcome a policy of good relations, but the question that needs to be asked is: Can Pakistan be trusted?'' That is how Mr. Madan Das responded to questions on the Prime Minister's recent initiative. He also rejected the idea that the Vajpayee Government was acting under American pressure. "The Government has to work in the given international conditions,'' he said. Of special significance will be the discussion on economic issues related to the World Trade Organisation, labour policy and disinvestment of profit making public sector undertakings expected to be taken up tomorrow when Ministers heading the economic Ministries could be summoned.

It was the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, a RSS affiliate, which had used rather harsh language to describe the Vajpayee Government's policies, suggesting that the country was being betrayed and "sold out'' to multinationals. But today the Sangh tried to soft pedal this. Said Mr. Madan Das: "The RSS welcomed the stand taken by Murasoli Maran (at Doha) and more recently by Arun Jaitley (at Tokyo).'' He suggested there was nothing wrong in the Swadeshi Jagran Manch expressing its views freely on economic issues, but this should be done on the basis of policy perspective, and the use of bitter and harsh words should be avoided.

Besides the BJP, RSS affiliates which were represented at today's conclave included the VHP, the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the Vidya Bharati and the Vanwasi Kalyan Kendra. The Prime Minister did not speak today, but he is expected to do so at the concluding session.

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