rediff.com: Don't push Hindutva too hard, PM warns Sangh


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February 12, 2000

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Don't push Hindutva too hard, PM warns Sangh

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has cautioned the Sangh Parivar not to push through its agenda on governance.

He categorically told the leadership of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Bajrang Dal that his coalition government would collapse if the Hindutva forces persisted with their game plan, because some partners would then withdraw support.

"It is a warning by the prime minister to the Sangh Parivar that the patience of the coalition partners should not be tested. Already, some partners are fuming about certain government measures and have unambiguously conveyed their resentment to Vajpayeeji," top government sources said.

The sources told rediff.com that the prime minister's assertion yesterday, when he shared the dais with RSS chief Rajinder Singh, was aimed at apprising the Sangh Parivar of the sensitivity of the situation.

According to Bharatiya Janata Party officials, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi, Telugu Desam Party president Nara Chandrababu Naidu and Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee have warned the prime minister to take cognisance of their concerns or face withdrawal of support.

"Vajpayeeji knows that the warning by the coalition partners is no idle threat. That is why he did not mince words in conveying what has been preying on his mind for the last three weeks," the BJP officials pointed out.

The prime minister is understood to have told the RSS chief that he does not relish the prospect of his government being defeated on the floor of the Lok Sabha again. He said he would rather send in his resignation to Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Referring to the prime minister's assertion, a Shiv Sena member of the Lok Sabha who did not wish to be identified conceded: "Yes, the prime minister said thus far and no further. He served notice on the Sangh Parivar that if they keep stoking and pushing controversial issues, he is willing to resign."

The MP indicated that following the controversy in political circles, the issue of lifting the ban on government employees joining the RSS had been "shelved", at least till the assembly elections get over. Similarly, the proposed review of the Constitution is not going to be undertaken in a hurry, with some coalition partners mounting relentless pressure on Vajpayee to abandon controversial measures.

According to a Samata Party spokesman, alarm bells began ringing in the prime minister's office after it was told by intelligence agencies that the situation is worse than had been believed. "Even our party gets the impression that Vajpayee is all alone in cautioning the Sangh Parivar from making its push a shove," the Samata Party spokesman underscored. "Frankly, we don't know what the hell is going on in the prime minister's mind at this juncture."

He indicated that this was probably why Vajpayee had distanced himself from the acrimonious bickerings among the three National Democratic Alliance constituents (BJP, Samata Party and Janata Dal, United) in Bihar where they were trying to pull each other's party candidate down to get the upper hand in the assembly. "This can result in a no-win situation for the NDA," the spokesman conceded, adding that Laloo Prasad Yadav would be the obvious beneficiary.

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