In the wake of its recent spat with the Bharatiya Janata Party President L K Advani, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is now contemplating among other things a restructuring of the party organisation when the former steps down, providing for a strong general secretary and elected office-bearers to make it an "ideology-centric" as against a "personality-oriented" outfit.
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RSS is expected to put forward this proposal at a 'chintan baithak' or brainstorming session with the BJP top brass, likely to take place ahead of the party's key national executive meeting next month, Parivar sources said.
The date and venue of the conclave are yet to be decided.
The proposal also envisages making its pointsman in the party, general secretary (organisation), both at the state and central level, independent of the party chief's control.
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"There is nothing new in it. It was the practice during Jan Sangh days. Jan Sangh founder Deendayal Upadhyaya was its general secretary from 1951 to 1968. The post was all powerful till the party merged with the Janata Party in 1977. New rules were set in its new avatar as BJP in 1980," a senior Parivar leader said.
While at present only the president is elected by an electoral college, in the proposed system, even the office bearers would be elected in a similar manner so that "nobody is arbitrarily removed or appointed", he added.
With Advani declining to listen to its demand for stepping down in the wake of his controversial remarks in Pakistan causing acute embarrassment to the RSS, the Sangh is now stressing on "collective leadership" to deal with any individual aberration, they said.
Under the fresh proposal, the president's post would be "ceremonial" in nature while that of the general secretary would be "powerful" as in the case of Communist parties, the sources said.
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However, to ensure checks and balances, the office-bearers would not be "mere nominees" of the president or the general secretary and would be elected representatives having their own base in the party.
An indication of the RSS proposal was made by its chief, K S Sudarshan, at a condolence meeting for Sangh veteran H V Seshadri in the capital last Sunday when he said the Sangh had survived four generations as it was "ideology-centric and not personality-oriented".
In an apparent reference to Advani's 'ideological deviation' during his Pakistan visit, Sudarshan also emphasised the need for evolving consensus before arriving at any decision or making any deviation.
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The proposal for restructuring the party organisation is understood to be part of the "roadmap" given by the RSS to Advani last month after he reportedly sought a time of his choice to step down as party president.
The proposal, circulated among some party leaders, has found favour with some who feel a "far more democratic structure" would help in curbing the dissidence currently plaguing the party while others feel it would be "a cumbersome process which could encourage factionalism in the party".
RSS is also expected to emphasise on restoring the primacy of ideology at the conclave and ensuring discipline within the rank and file of the party. The proposal, if accepted, would require an amendment in the party constitution by the BJP national council.
