Govindacharya back for ‘Swaraj’ campaign

While Uma denied that, she was quick to volunteer her services for the Rashtriya Swabhiman Andolan announced by mentor Govindacharya—back from self-proclaimed hibernation—on the issue. At the same time, Uma also held out the possibility of a resignation in the future. Other two biggest losers of the BJP in the recent election, general secretary Pramod Mahajan and, sources disclosed, outgoing HRD minister Murli Manohar Joshi, will next join the Keep Out Sonia chorus. BJP president M. Venkaiah Naidu has convened a meeting of the party top brass at his residence tomorrow morning to consider the matter. Among those likely to be present is L K Advani. Today Naidu met NDA convenor and Janata Dal (United) president George Fernandes, apparently to explore the idea of both parties making common cause on the issue.

Pressure is building up on the BJP leadership from within to build a nationwide movement. In Ranchi, BJP national vice-president Babulal Marandi endorsed such an agitation, saying: ‘‘Some Jaichands and Mir Jafars are facilitating Sonia Gandhi to rule the country…It’s a bitter pill I can’t swallow.’’

The BJP leadership, according to sources, hopes such a movement may help it retrieve the ground it lost during the election. Other pet issues, like Ayodhya or common civil code, remain too contentious to get the backing of BJP allies. However, the BJP, being the main opposition party, won’t take it as far as boycotting Sonia in Parliament.

Meanwhile, Govindacharya is already on the job, summoned by the RSS to immediately launch a movement against ‘‘the bid to foist a foreigner as the Prime Minister’’. While the Sangh has called upon swayamsevaks to join in, the agitation won’t be in the name of the Sangh but a new outfit, the Rashtriya Swabhiman Andolan.

Govindacharya will begin by leading a march up to the Rashtrapati Bhawan on May 18 to petition the President to avert what he described as ‘‘the national calamity of a foreigner heading the government’’. He gave a call to the people to wear black badges, observe a fast and stage dharnas the day Sonia is sworn in.

In Madhya Pradesh, where Govindacharya’s word counts a lot, Uma’s colleagues as well as officers are worried about the effect the Chief Minister’s proactive role in the agitation will have on the state, considering its dependence on Central funds. Uma had been among the first ones to voice her opposition to Sonia. Shortly after the results became known, she told reporters in Ujjain that she had prayed at the Mahakal temple to stop Sonia from becoming the PM.

Senior members of the state BJP, several of whom are strongly opposed to Uma, privately expressed reservation about the wisdom of such a stand. ‘‘The results indicate clearly that the India Shining campaign was only one part of the problem. Even those who support us, in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, want an atmosphere of peace. Certainly, Muslims have not been won over. The hardliners want to avoid a postmortem of their own role and, through an anti-Sonia agitation, hope to consolidate their position within the organisation,’’ said one of them.

Bureaucrats, for their part, point out how the state interests were hurt when the NDA government refused to cooperate with the Digvijay Singh regime in the state. Work in the power sector, on roads and irrigation projects in the state is dependent on Central funding.

Questioned on the issue, Uma was typically dismissive: ‘‘Sonia did not get these funds from Italy, these are funds belonging to the country. Why should there be a problem?’’

But, as usual, Laloo had the last word. The Sushma Sonia remark, he said, boiled down to an age-old reality: ‘‘A woman cannot stand beauty and virtue of another.’’