NEW DELHI, OCT 19: Two days after Home Minister Lal Krishna Advani, swore by his loyalty to the RSS, the BJP today officially distanced itself from its ideological inspiration, the Sangh.In a statement issued from Gurdaspur - released simultaneously in Delhi also - the BJP chief Bangaru Laxman today said the recent utterances of RSS chief K S Sudarshan on Christians and Muslims were the views of the Sangh and not that of the BJP and that the latter followed its own agenda which was significantly different from that of the RSS.Bangaru's statement is being seen as an attempt by Prime Minister Vajpayee's loyalists to get back at the Home Minister. Vajpayee's suo motu clarification at BJP's national executive a fortnight ago, that Bangaru was not only his choice but that of the entire party, had given away Bangaru's proximity to Vajpayee.Interestingly, BJP's lone Muslim office-bearer, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, too had defended Sudarshan's statement yesterday and had even gone to the extent of calling the members of minority community who do not not believe in their ``glorious cultural inheritance'' (that most of them were converts and hence should not forget that they were descendants of Ram and Krishna), did not have faith in the nation.Advani loyalists do not seem pleased at Bangaru's attempt to ``ridicule'' the Home Minister within 48 hours of the latter's stout defence of his RSS links. ``He seem to have gone beyond his brief,'' said a senior BJP leader, known for his proximity to Advani. They also wondered as to why Bangaru instructed the party to release his Gurdaspur speech in the Capital as well.Bangaru, however, did not refer to Advani's remarks and instead blamed it on a campaign by BJP's adversaries on the RSS issue to drag the party into a controversy. ``This tactic would not work and the party would not oblige or join the debate on terms set by them,'' he said.Bangaru said that the RSS was a patriotic organisation and that the BJP held it in high esteem. ``But, this does not mean that we agree with it on every issue'', he said.He said BJP's commitment to secularism was complete, unconditional and irreversible. ``For us, all Indians are equal irrespective of their caste and creed. All have equal rights and responsibilities towards the nation,'' he said.
