BJP leader L.K. Advani ... has often said both inside and outside Parliament that what he is today can be attributed to his RSS background ... His appearance at the RSS conclave in Agra ... was seen, first, as not being in conformity with his position as Home Minister. Secondly, it was seen as justifying the scepticism that was voiced when the BJP made its recent overtures to the Muslims. It is the second point which is important. and it becomes even more so when Advani equates the position of the RSS vis-à-vis the Vajpayee Government to that of Gandhi to Nehru Government and Jayaprakash Narayan's to Morarji Desai Government.

The comparisons made by Advani should help in dispelling any illusions about a softening of the BJP because of its current adherence to the NDA's agenda ...

None of this should cause any surprise except in the context of one of Advani's interviews on the first anniversary of the Vajpayee Government in which he regretted that the BJP still had an anti-minority image ...

What is odd, however, is Advani's apparent inability to see the connection between the BJP's umbilical ties with the RSS and its anti-minority image. You cannot boast about the one and be mystified by the other. Even now when the years in power have made Advani realise the need for distancing ideology from governance, as he has acknowledged, for him to stress the links between his party and the RSS means taking two steps back to Bangaru Laxman's one step forward.

Such an attitude obviously has long-term implications for the BJP. It means that the party will never quite be able to secure the minority vote without which, it has now. realized, it will not be able to make any significant political gains, let alone attain a majority in Parliament on its own. What is more, some of its present allies may stay with it, guided by opportunism, but there is little doubt that their comfort level will fall as the RSS under a hardline chief undoes what the BJP under a softliner tries to accomplish.

If some of the BJP leaders wonder why the minorities are so upset with a 'patriotic' organization like the RSS, they are being disingenuous. The reason is simple. The image of the RSS in the eyes. of the minorities has been moulded by experience at the ground level which is reflected in the adverse comments about its role in communal trouble made by several judicial commissions ...

(Such things) are reinforced at the ground level by the other organizations within the Sangh Parivar like the VHP and Bajrang Dal ... However, none of these organizations have ever deviated from their views. They are quite clear in their view that India is a Hindu Rashtra where the minorities must accept the 'culture' of the majority.

 It is the BJP which has been hedging its bets. Because of political compulsions, it has always been less abrasive than the other, more outspoken, outfits of the Parivar.

After the infructuous 13 days of the first Vajpayee Government ... it became even more benign. But as Advani's praise of the RSS has shown, the mask can occasionally slip.

... At the moment, however, it is a tightrope walk for them between a fascist ideology favouring one dominant culture and the compulsions of a multicultural polity.

Hence the contradiction between Advani's RSS-is-our- soul statement and his regret about the BJP's anti-minority image. (Source: The Hindustan Times, 30 October, 2000)

BJP Backtracks - Editorial, The Hindustan Times, 7 Nov., 2000

... (Not) so long ago the BJP was all agog with 'social engineering'. Essentially, this implied that a party with a cast-iron Hindutva ideology was embarking on a grand strategic shift to secure the votes of the "lower' castes in a bid to extend its electoral social base, For a time the idea seemed to click and the party made enviable gains in the Hindi heartland which is thought to be crucial to holding power at the Centre. But all of a sudden this grandstanding seems to be in retreat.

With the BJP decapitating its principal non-(higher) caste functionaries in UP and replacing them with (high) caste Hindu representatives - witness the change of Chief Minister, state party chief as well as Governor, all in quick succession - it is becoming clear that the party is signalling to all concerned that it is going back to its roots to prepare for the coming round of Assembly elections in the state ... The so-called backward castes of UP, and the Dalits, will no doubt draw their own lessons from this turn-around. But equally importantly, the example of UP  is likely to become a message for all parts of the country, particularly northern India.

The point is that 'social engineering" was only a facade, a ploy to bring in votes. It was not grounded in any real change in the BJP's philosophy. In plural and heterogeneous societies, parties that aspire to power are obliged to resort to symbolism in order to attract diverse elements. Even if recognized as tokenism. such efforts buttress their claim to represent the whole electorate and not just particular sections. In the BJP's case. the veneer has just dropped. ... The BJP's first Dalit president ...  Bangaru Laxman may (be) feeling neglected.