The Hindu : RSS affiliates resolve `to work together'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 04, 2003

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RSS affiliates resolve `to work together'

By Neena Vyas

NEW DELHI MAY 3. The result of the three-day conclave of the top leadership of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh affiliates which concluded here today, described by the RSS chief, K.S. Sudershan, as "refreshing" and "good", was that each of the RSS organisations, though independent, would help and coordinate its activities with the others as much as possible.

The elections on the horizon may not have been directly discussed, but the silent message heard loud and clear was: when the chips are down, when the elections are round the corner, the Sangh organisations will work together and for each other. In short, everyone will work for the BJP in the run-up to the elections.

The Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, who spoke for 10 minutes at the very end, welcomed the successful effort to coordinate Sangh Parivar activities and was elated enough by the success of the show to wish increased frequency of such conclaves even as he underscored the need for the RSS to work more intensely in remote regions to make the people there feel more connected to the rest of India. On the India-Pakistan initiative, Mr. Vajpayee stated clearly that he had so far remained non-committal in his response to the Pakistan Prime Minister's invitation for talks. Later, the RSS spokesperson, Ram Madhav, said the organisation wanted a positive Pakistani response "on the ground" (they want to see the end of cross-border terrorism) and only then the "process" (of thaw in the India-Pakistan relations) should proceed further.

Given the fact of open squabbling and use of abusive language between leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party and some of the other arms of the RSS such as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Swadeshi Jagran Manch and the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, the meeting, it seemed, was held in an atmosphere of cordiality.

During the three-day deliberations, BJP leaders made it clear that the "party was as much committed to the Ram temple issue and to resolving the Ayodhya tangle as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad", Mr. Madhav later told presspersons. The BJP's total support for a legislation to resolve the Ayodhya issue as demanded by the VHP was promised. But it was for the VHP to get the support from MPs of other parties, including allies and the Congress. The RSS' tacit approval of the VHP's "trishul diksha" programme was acknowledged when Mr. Madhav said the programme was symbolic, even as he insisted that the subject was not discussed — the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, had not raised it, let alone criticise it, he emphasised.

Disinvestment was apparently given considerable attention with the SJM and even the RSS bosses emphasising that companies in the oil sector should be treated as strategic and not be put up for sale and there should be careful reconsideration of the sale of profit-making PSUs. The Finance Minister, Jaswant Singh, and the Disinvestment Minister, Arun Shourie, did not participate in the deliberations which were limited to those from the RSS stables.

The RSS spokesperson emphasised that the meet was "not a dialogue between the RSS and the Government" but an internal discussion within the RSS family organisations. Mr. Vajpayee and Mr. Advani were there as RSS members and not as government representatives.

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