This Article is From Nov 12, 2009

It's Rajnath vs Advani; Saffron Parivar divided

New Delhi: It's out in the open; the BJP camp is distinctly divided between Rajnath and Advani loyalists. That after party president Rajnath Singh officially asked the RSS to help sort out the succession issue in the party.

Rajnath met RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Wednesday. RSS sources say Rajnath invited the RSS to intervene to counter Advani camp's attempts to keep the RSS at bay.

Rajnath camp's backing will provide legitimacy to the RSS remote controlling the BJP. But on face of it, both the RSS and the BJP deny discord and the intervention.


"The RSS is the inspiration behind our ideology. It is the BJP's power house," says Prakash Javadekar, BJP spokesman.

"The RSS only guides the BJP if needed," says Ram Madhav, RSS spokesman.

What started after Lok Sabha polls as a succession dispute between Advani and Rajnath camps now has the RSS as part of the dispute. The RSS wants no top leader to be the next president. The Advani camp says RSS choices are unfit for the job.

After the Lok Sabha polls, there were hints from the RSS that it's searching for a new paradigm for Hindutva. But now it seems the quest is for a new political paradigm. Is the Sangh getting more political? Will the BJP get less autonomous? A clash is brewing - the Saffron Parivar is living its worst nightmare.
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