Surat, July 2
Amid differences on the stand to be taken on L.K. Advani, top Sangh Parivar leaders met here today to chalk out the agenda for the first crucial conclave of the RSS here tomorrow after the BJP President’s controversial visit to Pakistan.
Over 24 senior leaders, including RSS chief K.S. Sudershan and VHP firebrand leader Praveen Togadia, met at Eklavya Ambedkar Bhavan in this rain-ravaged city ahead of the deliberations which can give a new dimension to the RSS-BJP ties.
Unlike previous RSS meetings, which were attended by Advani and former party chief M Venkaiah Naidu, this time only Sanjay Joshi, Sangh pointsman in the BJP and the party’s General Secretary
(organisation) is the only central leader to be invited.
About 140 delegates, including provincial organisers, all-India functionaries of the Sangh and important organisers from Parivar outfits, who hold the key to the BJP’s electoral prospects, will attend the three-day meeting.
According to sources, a section of the Sangh leadership is in favour of giving time to Advani to set the party in order and facilitate the smooth handover of the party’s reins to a second-generation leader in the not too distant future.
However, VHP leaders including Togadia, who had last month asked Advani to take “sanyas” from politics, are expected to insist on his stepping down as party chief at the earliest and his replacement by a pro-Hindutva leader.
Though Advani has sought to clarify his controversial remarks on Mohammad Ali Jinnah, in the recent days, some Sangh leaders view it as an “afterthought meant
only to mollify the Parivar.”However, some other senior leaders feel that by accepting the BJP resolution which condemned Jinnah as communal and responsible for the country’s Partition, Advani had virtually retracted from his controversial remarks and hence should be pardoned.
Nevertheless, the RSS top brass is not happy with the utterances of some BJP leaders, including party national secretary Sudheendra Kulkarni, who had even publicly attacked the Sangh fountainhead and the VHP.
Though Kulkarni has offered to step down, some leaders felt that he continued to enjoy Advani’s blessing.
The suggestions could include raising the Imrana issue to the level of the Shah Bano case to bring the Uniform Civil Code issue back on the party’s agenda, they said. — PTI
