BJP ignores Govindacharya’s return from agyat-vaas

Hhis two-year self-imposed hibernation (agyat-vaas) over today, BJP ideologue K.N. Govindacharya is faced with an uncertain future. Ready to...

Hhis two-year self-imposed hibernation (agyat-vaas) over today, BJP ideologue K.N. Govindacharya is faced with an uncertain future. Ready to return to politics, he awaits a word from his party.

Thanks to the keenness of BJP leaders not to run the risk of displeasing Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee by courting him, Govindacharya seems destined to pursue a lonely path as of now.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Govindacharya said: ‘‘I have been cut off from friends during the last two years. I would utilise the next three months to catch up with them and revive my contact with everyone.’’ Regarding his future plans, he said philosophically ‘‘My horizon is wide. So is the sky. Let me see what the future holds for me.’’

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Govindacharya avoided a categorical answer when asked if he had any proposal to build a mass movement in Bihar on the pattern of the JP movement in 1972. He said: ‘‘Suggestions are coming from friends. Let me get to Delhi. I will consider them all.’’

The former BJP general secretary has compiled 3,000 pages while studying the impact of globalisation on the economy of developing nations. Divided in to 30 chapters, he would condense it, ultimately giving it the shape of a report, to be submitted to Naidu on April 2.

Once a rising star of the BJP, Govindacharya got on to the wrong side of Vajpayee following the ‘‘mukhauta’’ controversy. Though he stoutly denied having described Vajpayee as just a mask of the BJP to a British delegation, the controversy stuck to him.

Even one-time patron, DPM L.K. Advani, did not try shielding him while he was first removed as a general secretary by Bangaru Laxman and subsequently dropped by M Venkaiah Naidu from the national executive.

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During his hibernation he was incommunicable for seven months. This, however, did not deter his political detractors from chasing him, who targeted him with several controversies during this period.

In the course of his leave, he wandered from place to place, mostly pilgrim centres like Badrinath, Kedarnath, Chitrakoot, Ayodhya, Mathura, Hardwar, Rishikesh, Tirupathi and Kanyakumari.

Away from the rough and tumble of the politics here, Govindacharya spent his evening at Shool Tankeshwar Mandir on the bank of Ganga at Varanasi today. He would end his hibernation, technically termed study leave, with a Satyanarain ‘‘katha’’ tomorrow and leave for New Delhi thereafter.

The BJP has shown no enthusiasm to welcome him back at the party headquarters here. No senior party leader has met him. He has also not met any one of them. Govindacharya is not eyeing any office. There is none vacant either. Left to himself, he would rather keep a low profile for the time being.