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Tara Shankar Sahay in Kurukshetra
The spontaneous celebrations in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Union Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani's elevation as the deputy prime minister may be short-lived given his promise to implement the National Democratic Alliance's agenda.
In an interview to a television channel following his appointment on Saturday, Advani made it clear that it was the NDA agenda and not that of the Bharatiya Janata Party that the government would implement.
Known and liked in certain sections for his pro-Hindutva stand, Advani's assertion of the government's adherence to the NDA agenda could bring him into a confrontation with the hardliners in the Sangh Parivar.
With the Vishwa Hindu Parishad chief Ashok Singhal attending the two-day RSS meet here, the Sangh Parivar has made its priorities clear.
Top RSS leaders have gone on record saying that Ayodhya would be discussed in detail at the two-day conclave.
The VHP, on its part, is upset with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for not doing enough to resolve the issue.
RSS leader Madhav Rao pointed out that Advani's appointment as the deputy prime minister was a welcome development. However, he said everybody in the RSS was aware of a leader's limitation in coalition politics.
Thus Advani, in his new avatar as the deputy prime minister, will have to exercise a balanced blend of discretion and tact to keep both the NDA and the Sangh Parivar happy on the contentious Ayodhya dispute.
RSS activists here felt that Prime Minister Vajpayee had shrewdly "engineered" Advani's appointment to win Sangh Parivar's support.
The fact that Advani during his interview to the television channel also emphasised that the BJP would contest the next general election under Vajpayee's leadership, indicated that he was not yet willing to stake his claim to the top post.
These are hard facts that the Sangh Parivar can ill afford to ignore.
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