New Delhi, July 1
The BJP Secretary, Mr Sudheendra Kulkarni, today acknowledged a letter that he wrote to party President L.K. Advani on June 24, saying that he was prepared to work as an ordinary worker if the party seniors wanted, but refuted media stories that he had resigned from the post.
Talking to The Tribune over telephone from Mumbai, Mr Kulkarni said it was not a “resignation letter” but declined to reveal the contents of his letter to Mr Advani.
“Yes I have written but I do not want to discuss the why and for what reason I wrote,” he said.
The two-page unsigned letter, a copy of which is with the Tribune, says that he was willing to step down as a member of team of office-bearers.
“If my senior colleagues want I shall continue to work for you as an ordinary worker of the party,” he said in the letter addressing Mr Advani as “Aadaraneeya Shri Lalji”.
Asked if he got any response from the party to his letter, Mr Kulkarni who has been the target of attack by the Sangh Parivar for “misleading” Mr Advani on his recent statement on Pakistan founder M.A. Jinnah said, “I do not want to discuss this issue through the media”.
BJP spokesman Arun Jaitley, on the other hand, said the views expressed by Mr Kulkarni were “purely personal”. He said the BJP should completely distance itself from the “extremist elements” in the VHP which had brought bad name to the party and was weakening the larger nationalist cause.
In his letter, Mr Kulkarni told Mr Advani that the “ present chaotic and unsettled atmosphere” should not disturb him at all.
“You are in a unique position today to reorient the party- and also the larger polity in the country-in alignment with India’s long-term interests”, he said in his letter.
For this, Mr Kulkarni pleads with his party President that “the RSS-BJP relationship will have to be recast”.
“The RSS should not micro-manage the affairs of the party. It must, especially, not make any public comments on the top leaders of the party. The RSS must realise that the people of India do not like to see their leaders remote -controlled by an external entity”, he said.
At the same time, he admits that “India needs the RSS”. “However, the RSS must focus on giving strategic guidance to Hindu society and on creating men and women of vision and character to take up leadership positions at different levels and in diverse areas”, he observed.
Giving specific suggestions for building up the BJP, Mr Kulkarni pleads with Mr Advani that he should “proactively approach the RSS leaders telling them to have faith in you. There can be no essential difference between you and what an enlightened understanding of the RSS ideology mandates”.
“The party must make concerted and principled attempts to reach out to Indian Muslims. The fear that this would displease our ‘core voters’ is misplaced. In any case, isn’t it our duty to change the mindset of our core voters”, Mr Kulkarni poses a question and goes on to add that “We may not get substantial Muslim support, but our sincere and sustained effort will make a winning difference”.
“Let us employ this approach in the Bihar elections and see the results”, he said and asked Mr Advani to call some 50-100 leaders of the party (singly, in small groups, and in bigger informal forums) for a candid exchange of views on what the larger goal of the party is and for conveying to them how you wish to steer the party towards that goal”, Mr Kulkarni said and observed that “top layer of the party must be energised in order to change the political situation in the country”.
