Tiwari discovers a Nehru in Vajpayee in RSS mouthpiece

NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 27: At a time when the Congress is patting itself on the back for forcing the Vajpayee government on the defensive on ...

NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 27: At a time when the Congress is patting itself on the back for forcing the Vajpayee government on the defensive on the Ayodhya issue, the party finds it hard to explain the flattery heaped over Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee by senior leader N D Tiwari in the latest issue of the RSS mouthpiece Panchajanya.

Tiwari, a former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and presently the Nainital MP, writes, “Despite differences with the people hailing from various ideologies, his (Vajpayee’s) public behaviour has been in accordance with the parliamentary traditions. He has assiduously tried to

maintain a distance from fundamentalism and extremism.”

Tiwari even goes to the extent of comparing Vajpayee with Nehru. “It is well-known that Pandit Nehruji was also influenced by his style of argument. Atalji too tried to learn many things from Panditji and the generation of freedom fighters. Even today, the manner in which he makes his speeches in English is reminiscent of Panditji‘s style,” he writes.

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The comparison, appearing as it does in the RSS publication, has become a major source of embarrassment for the Congress. A senior leader said the party wanted to seek Tiwari’s views, but couldn’t do so as the Congress veteran couldn’t be traced.

Many partymen view Tiwari’s article is as an attempt to exert pressure on Congress president Sonia Gandhi for a berth in the Congress Working Committee. Of late, he had been feeling slighted over the fact that the claims of his nominee for the post Uttaranchal unit president, Indira Hridayesh, had been ignored in favour of Harish Rawat. Hridayesh was appointed the legislature party chief instead. Tiwari has also been upset over the fact that not many of his followers have been accommodated in the AICC from the Uttar Pradesh quota.