PM makes hardliners avoid sticky issues

NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 25: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's growing clout, during his third innings in office, seems to have made not on...

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NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 25: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s growing clout, during his third innings in office, seems to have made not only BJP but its allies like the RSS, VHP and Swadeshi Jagran Manch give up their hardline stand on contentious issues.

BJP MPs were surprised when Vajpayee, at their parliamentary party meeting last week, refused to answer queries on how long they were expected to avoid contentious issues. Instead, he passed on the mike to Home Minister LK Advani who is supposed to lead the hardliners in the party.

More surprise was in store as Advani told them not to raise such issues till the Government was firmly established and to keep their commitments within their hearts. Kushabhau Thakre, president of the party which promised the temple in Ayodhya, disowned the entire issue. “There seems to be a race among BJP and Sangh leaders to distance themselves from the issues”, is how a hardliner BJP leader summed up the mood.

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Going by successive statements by VHP leaders defending BJP’s decision to put all issues like Article 370, Common Civil Code and Ram Temple in abeyance till required, it seems clear that Vajpayee had been successful in reigning in the entire Sangh Parivar to ensure its survival.

The hardliners tried to hit back last week by raising the contentious issues through Private Members Bill but were immediately told to keep quiet on the issue by Vajpayee. This was the first attempt by hardliners to take on Vajpayee after the latter emphatically said at Bangalore national executive of the party that his and not the party’s, would be the last word in matters of governance.

Swadeshi Jagran Manch, another Sangh Parivar affiliate, which vehemently opposed Vajpayee Government’s policies like Insurance Regulatory Authority Bill, Patents and WTO agreement during its last term, too has been quiet so far even as IRA has been passed by the Parliament this time.

“We don’t condone the IRA bill with reduced foreign equity. But, we want to give the Government some time before evaluating its performance”, says SJM organiser Murlidhar Rao.