For all its talk of discipline, the truth is that the Sangh Parivar is a loose federation of an assortment of organisations and mind-sets. There may be the moderates like Vajpayee who regard the Ayodhya demolition as regrettable. But there is also a lunatic fringe that treats December 6, 1992 as a day of pride.

It is possible - probable even - that Vajpayee has no desire to see Ayodhya return to haunt the BJP. From all accounts he was never enamoured of the 1989 rath yatra or of the party's obsession with a medieval monument. It is also true that he has managed with effort and finesse to keep such temperamental allies as Jayalalitha and Mamata within the fold. But he must realise that ultimately, it is not the allies who will present his government with its greatest threat.

That threat will come from within the Parivar. It-will come from those who wish to impose a divisive and essentially negative agenda on this government. They will push Vajpayee further than he is willing to go. And they will scare away those allies and friends who believe that the BJP has tempered its old militancy. The Prime Minister deserves our congratulations for publicly assuring us that the events of December 6 will never be repeated.

But now, he needs to go further. He needs to tell us that Ayodhya is off the radar screen because it is a regressive and inflammatory issue that this is ill-suited to our times, not because there are some legal delays. And when the Parivar speaks out of turn, he must tell it to moderate its rhetoric. It is not enough for him to tell us to approach the law to take action against inflammatory statements ... He must be much more assertive than he has been.                                                                                           (Source: The Hindustan Times, 12 June, 1998)