RSS Chief keen to resolve decades old rivalry between PM and Joshi
By Arun Srivastava
March 30 is going to be the momentous day in the lifecycle of the RSS. On this day the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat would not only be meeting his ostensible bete noire Narendra Modi to sort out the issue of selection of the future president of the BJP, but on the same day he would also be mediating between Modi and his die hard enemy, senior RSS leader, Sanjay Joshi to resolve their decades old animosity.
This proposition of Bhagwat has shaken the RSS rank and file. Even some senior BJP leaders look at this development as his surrender to Modi. They wonder how could Bhagwat who till recently was determined to show Modi his place, take such a defensive posture. What has really intrigued them is Bhagwat’s move to persuade Joshi to patch up his differences with Modi.
Once the most powerful leader of BJP, Sanjay Joshi, former general secretary (organisation), was sidelined by Modi. He had to pay for his two mistakes; first, opposition to Modi’s re-entry into Gujarat politics in 1998 and his stand against L K Advani in the wake of the senior party leader’s praises for Muhammed Ali Jinnah in 2005. Nevertheless it was his opposition to Modi that cost him most. In 1998, he sided with then Gujarat chief minister and BJP leader, Keshubhai Patel, to oppose Narendra Modi’s plan to return to Gujarat from Delhi.
Joshi, the senior RSS leader, was drafted in BJP as the general secretary (organisation) in Gujarat. Modi was the general secretary (organisation) of the Gujarat BJP. But in 1995 Modi was removed and Joshi replaced him. However, in 2001 due to L K Advani, Modi could gain back his position in Gujarat. After his entry, the first major move of Modi was to show Joshi door and he was sent to Delhi as the national general secretary of the party.
It was the infamous CD episode that forced Joshi to resign and after that he could not make a comeback in the organisation though Nitin Gadkari as party president brought him back to handle the Uttar Pradesh assembly election in 2011. But this did not help him gain back his eminence in the organisation. He was at the periphery of the party and even RSS. Modi virtually dictated the political destiny of Joshi over these years.
In this backdrop, Sanjay Joshi’s proposed meeting with Modi acquires immense significance. It obviously implies that while Bhagwat wants to rehabilitate Joshi, Modi has agreed to forget the old animosity. Senior RSS and BJP leaders assert that he is a more competent leader than Modi and command wide respect amongst the rank of the RSS and BJP. It was under his leadership, as general secretary, that BJP had won the assembly elections in many Hindi states for the first time and emerged as most powerful political party. Joshi, more famously known in the Sangh Parivar in Gujarat as Sanjay bhai, is a quiet, non-quarrelling, political worker. It is said with his sober nature and friendly attitude, he motivated cadre and district leaders.
Never before the BJP was faced with such a situation on the issue of new choice for President of the party. Even after 15 months, the party is yet to zero in on one name for the national president, most of the important states are also not having presidents. The national leadership is finding it tough to sort out differences and evolve consensus in states like Bengal, Bihar, Karnataka, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra. Senior leaders maintain that the party is not only split on the line of state leaders, instead the running feud between Modi and Bhagwat has been a major factor. It has split the party vertically.
Though supporter of Modi, especially those close to Amit Shah dismiss the possibility of Joshi’s return as “baseless, rumours and attempts to create trouble”, keeping in mind the “past history” between him and Modi, senior leaders strongly feel that Bhagwat must show his authority and persuade Modi to accept Joshi.
Political circles however, consider the forthcoming interaction significant because of the timing, venue and the purpose of the PM’s visit to Nagpur. The meeting of Modi, Bhagwat and Joshi is likely to see finalisation of the national council meeting in Bengaluru on April 18 to endorse the new president’s election. Bhagwat is no more in favour of delaying the election as this has been telling on the nerves of the RSS and BJP ranks. Modi and Bhagwat’s last one-on-one meeting was on May 10, 2014, in Delhi, ahead of Lok Sabha polls. If the party sources are to be relied Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, Union minister Nitin Gadkari, Acharya Govind Giri Maharaj, Avadheshanand Maharaj and Nagpur’s guardian minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule may also join them. (IPA Service)
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