STRAINED TIES WITH RSS DID NOT WAVER HIM

NEW DELHI: Uneasy, frosty and strained were some of the adjectives used to characterise the relationship between AB Vajpayee when he was the Prime Minister and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), ideological mentor of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Both sides made little effort to hide their differences. Yet, in the Sangh Parivaar, Vajpayee is feted today for the ease with which he straddled the roles of a political leader and an ideal swayamsevak.

Vajpayee’s foreign policy, the firmness with which he kept the Sangh out of political decision making and his outreach to the minorities were distant from the RSS’S ideological positions on these issues. The Sangh’s open criticism of his economic policies and his non-committal approach towards the construction of a Ram Temple on a disputed site in Ayodhya set him up for criticism, but his ideological moorings remained unwavering. Former Rajya Sabha member and journalist HK Dua, who worked as media adviser to the ex-pm, recalls Vajpayee was a “man of consensus”.

“Despite Kargil, he went ahead and had talks with the author of the war Gen Parvez Musharraf, he wanted peace and to improve ties with the neighbour,” Dua said.

Discordant notes between the Sangh and Vajpayee were conspicuous over issues such as the Rath Yatra and over his response to the 2002 Gujarat riots, yet the communication channels were kept open, a senior RSS functionary said on condition of anonymity. His ability to win people over, is what former RSS functionary and BJP general secretary Govindacharya remembers.