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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 001813 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PTER PREL PINR KDEM IN
SUBJECT: BJP: ENTER HINDUTVA HAWKS? 
 
REF: A. NEW DELHI 1747 
     ¶B. NEW DELHI 1329 
     ¶C. NEW DELHI 1278 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  SUMMARY: With party revolts, expulsions, 
leadership intrigue, and name-calling dominating the 
headlines, the Bharatiya Janta Party(BJP) is in serious 
trouble and appears rudderless.  The conclusion of the 
three-day long "introspection" meeting by the top party brass 
exacerbated the public feuds rather than containing them. 
Speculation is rife that the Hindutva hawks of the Rashtriya 
Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) are stepping in to impose discipline 
on the still-imploding party.  END SUMMARY 
 
Seeking The Future In The Past 
--- 
 
¶2.  (U)  The BJP held its much anticipated Chintan Baithak 
(introspection meeting) in Shimla from August 19 through 
August 21.  Originally billed as a strategy session for the 
party in the aftermath of the BJP,s defeat in the 2009 
general elections, the oft-postponed meeting was restricted 
to 24 of the BJP,s top leaders, much to the chagrin of 
senior party leaders omitted from the invite list. 
Justifying public airing of grievances from BJP leaders, BJP 
leader Kalraj Mishra told poloff "If leaders are not allowed 
to speak within the home (within the party), then surely they 
will speak outside." 
 
 
Stale Agenda?  Blame the Media! 
---- 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  The BJP went into its three-day long meeting with 
an old agenda and emerged with an old strategy. The BJP's 
plan for the party,s future differed little from the BJP,s 
purported strategy from 2004 and 2009 elections - expanding 
in states where the BJP lacks a traditional role and courting 
social minorities.  One of the 24 leaders attending the 
meeting told poloff that the three-day long conclave 
disintegrated into factional feuds with top brass defending 
their campaign records and efforts with vigor; however, he 
also accused the media of focusing on the personality 
conflicts at the meeting rather than the emerging agenda.  An 
editor at a leading Indian daily, D.K. Singh, told poloff 
that the BJP made no effort to promote an innovative plan to 
tackle the BJP's slipping political star in advance of the 
upcoming elections in Haryana, Maharashtra and Arunachal 
Pradesh; in fact, the daily press briefings by party 
spokespersons at BJP headquarters, usually held with 
regularity, have become sporadic since August 20. 
 
 
 
Eternal Bubbling Of The Dissenting Pot 
---- 
 
¶4. (SBU)  The focus during and after the conclave centered 
around the expulsion of former Foreign Minister and senior 
party leader Jaswant Singh, for his positive portrayal of 
Pakistan founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah in his book: "Jinnah - 
India, Partition, Independence."  Side-stepping a discussion 
on the causes of, and response to, the party's trouncing in 
the 2009 parliamentary elections, the dismissal came on the 
opening day of the Chintan Baithak (Ref A).  Singh,s 
expulsion and ensuing firestorm dominated media attention. 
Criticizing Singh's expulsion, Arun Shourie, a senior leader 
of the BJP and a face of the party's intellectual wing 
referred to BJP president Rajnath Singh as "Alice in 
Blunderland" and "Humpty Dumpty" in the popular press, 
sparking more controversy.  Emboldened by the open revolts, 
former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Khanduri questioned his 
dismissal from office (Ref C)  for the 2009 poll debacle when 
other state leaders have been able to continue in their 
positions with impunity.  Perhaps unhappy that he had been 
upstaged in the press, Jaswant Singh upped the ante, 
 
NEW DELHI 00001813  002 OF 002 
 
 
lambasting the BJP as a modern day Klu Klux Klan.  A general 
melee developed as former Foreign Minister Yaswant Sinha and 
Former National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra took turns 
sullying Lok Sabha opposition leader L.K. Advani's 
reputation, implying that he was involved in the decision to 
fly Jaswant Singh to Kandahar and release prisoners convicted 
of terrorism in exchange for hijacked passengers in the New 
Year's Eve 2000 flight IC 814 crisis - a charge that Advani 
has consistently refuted since then. 
 
Paging Dr. RSS 
---- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Shourie alluded to the internal rot within the 
damaged BJP, accusing "some people in the party" in cahoots 
with "six journalists" of planting negative stories against 
Advani and others.  In light of continued public 
finger-pointing, Shourie invited the BJP,s sister 
organization, the Hindu nationalist fountainhead, the 
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to take over the BJP 
leadership and prepare it for reform by replacing current 
leadership.  This new leadership collective would mimic the 
leadership structure of the Jan Sangh Parivaar, the Hindutva 
umbrella organization.  Although senior members of the RSS 
and BJP have publicly criticized the BJP,s leadership (Ref 
A), they have also denied any desire to embroil themselves in 
the BJP,s leadership implosion, asserting the RSS,s 
independent standing from the BJP. 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  Despite RSS president Mohan Bhagwat's press 
conference on August 28 denying any role for the RSS in 
re-structuring the BJP, a senior RSS leader within the BJP 
confirmed to us the RSS,s intention of replacing BJP 
leadership.  Arguing that a younger set of leaders at the 
helm of the BJP would stave off the recurring crisis of a 
single BJP leader,s personality destabilizing the 
organization, he confirmed the RSS,s deep involvement and 
interest in the BJP.  The RSS's intimate involvement in the 
future of the BJP is a foregone conclusion in the Indian 
media, which is avidly following the visits of RSS leadership 
to Advani's home, and speculating on the new configurations 
of the proposed BJP leadership collective. 
 
BJP Waning: Return of the RSS 
---- 
 
¶7. (SBU) COMMENT: Given the leadership bloodletting within 
BJP ranks and the seemingly arbitrary nature of expulsions 
within the party, it is clear that the RSS is poised to 
assert influence within the BJP.  However, this intervention 
is unlikely to halt the BJP free-fall in the upcoming October 
assembly elections in Maharashtra, Haryana and Arunachal 
Pradesh.  Leaders within the BJP who are critical of RSS 
control are likely to find themselves sidelined in favor of 
re-instating party discipline and giving the party a 
direction for the future.  Whether the return of the RSS will 
mean a return to the hard right Hindutva agenda remains to be 
seen.  Despite the drama, it would be naive to close the book 
on the BJP; the Congress party underwent similar growing 
pains in the 1990s and lived to rule another day.  END COMMENT 
ROEMER