... Both the Prime Minister and the Home Minister shared the dais with the RSS (chief) Rajendra Singh, at a function organised by the RSS paper, Panchajanya. In their presence the RSS boss declared that, except for the police and the judiciary, all other government employees should be allowed to join the RSS.

Three days after this meeting, the RSS leader issues a  statement saying that the RSS does not demand the ban to be lifted at present. This is then used by Vajpayee to announce that since the RSS does not want a change in the rules, the government does not propose to do so.

The entire episode is typical of the way the RSS and the BJP function and their interrelationship. The Prime Minister has, by this drama, publicly revealed that he will ultimately go by what the RSS wishes to do. After testing the waters to see how far officially, the RSS can be promoted to penetrate the government, the Vajpayee Government finally retreats from the brink after getting clearance from the RSS itself. In the process, the signal is sent out to the civil services at all levels that joining the RSS is patronised by the highest executive of the land and there will be no problems in associating with the communal and semi-fascist organisation ...

The CPI(M) had warned from the outset that the BJP coming to power at the Centre would primarily pose a threat to the State apparatus. The first aim of the BJP would be to facilitate the RSS penetration into all the institutions of the State. Once this was accomplished, it would be able to effectively subvert the secular state and eventually the Constitution. This must become a central issue in the fight against the BJP-RSS combine.