Political titillation caused by results of exit polls has held sway since the end of polling for the Lok Sabha election on May 12, and now is the time for a reality check. Excitement caused by the private surveys has been all the more intense as the challenger to the ruling UPA government, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, is an outsider to national politics and was, until recently, an outsider to his own party’s calculations.
It says something that the current “core group” of the BJP — party chief Rajnath Singh, smooth-talking ideologue Arun Jaitley, and former party chief Nitin Gadkari, who is back in favour thanks to his proximity to the RSS — met in Ahmedabad on Wednesday to suit the Gujarat Chief Minister’s convenience, not in New Delhi.
For the BJP, victory is in the air. Ministers’ portfolios are being doled out and other key positions being determined. Anticipation has reached fever pitch. This had not been the ambience even when the first Vajpayee government was about to take office, although that was the first time the saffron party was preparing for national responsibilities. There is a unique brand of newness in the atmosphere as far as the BJP and its supporters are concerned.
If the actual result confirms their expectation, and Mr Modi becomes Prime Minister at the head of a strong BJP bloc in the Lok Sabha, there is a strong likelihood that the RSS would come into its own and hope to have some of its wishes fulfilled through the agency of the Prime Minister whose rise to the top Hindutva’s mother body has carefully crafted. This had not been possible with Mr Vajpayee at the helm. The old Brahmin had been mindful not only of his own party (and the RSS). He possessed a wider sense of this very diverse country, although in some important respects his government was different from a Congress dispensation. The RSS believes its own vision of India will get full traction with Mr Modi at the helm.
Already, M.G. Vaidya, a key RSS figure, has been quoted as saying that a government headed by the man from Gujarat was expected to take steps in the direction of fulfilling significant elements of the RSS agenda. In short order, these are the building of a Ram temple in Ayodhya, abrogating Article 370 of the Constitution (impacting Kashmir) and implementing a uniform civil code. The BJP brass have been holding regular confabulations with the RSS leadership of late. The dimensions of the RSS’ link with the BJP could have a bearing on any relationship state parties may contemplate with the BJP in government formation.
