In a frantic bid to open its account in the upcoming battle, the BJP is aggressively pursuing a hardline Hindutva agenda buttressed by an attempt to woo the minorities, especially the Christians!

That the BJP in its new avatar would be making an all-out bid to implement the Hindutva agenda with RSS pracharak Kummanam Rajasekharan taking over as the BJP’s state president was clear. But the party sprang a surprise when its newly-appointed chief met prominent Christian leader Cardinal Baselios Cleemis.

The meeting was an exercise aimed at allaying the apprehensions of the Christian community, which is worried over attacks by Hindu fringe groups on churches in various parts of the country following the ascension of power by the Narendra Modi-led Government at the Centre.

It is also a deft move to have a foothold in central Kerala, where the party is weak, and firm up its presence in Thiruvananthapuram district, which is the BJP’s stronghold. It may be mentioned that in the local bodies elections, the BJP came second in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, pushing the UDF to the third position. A tie-up or an understanding with the Kerala Congress(Mani) would enable the party to put up a good show in the assembly polls, the state BJP leaders calculate.

But the BJP must understand that one swallow does not make a summer. Such isolated attempts to build bridges of understanding with the Christian community won’t break the ice, given the reservations and misgivings the community continues to harbour towards the Hindutva party. If anything, the open declaration by Kummanam to strengthen the unity of various Hindu organizations has only added to the apprehensions of the Muslims and Christians, among others.

More important, the new BJP chief’s Christian wooing does not seem to have the approval of the RSS, which has taken complete control of the State BJP unit. Kummanam’s was an individual effort because of his excellent personal rapport with Baselios Cleemis.

That the RSS domination of the State BJP is complete is clear from the manner in which it is going about the task of reorganizing the state BJP unit. As many as four top RSS pracharaks are set to be appointed as office-bearers of the state BJP.

It may be mentioned that this is the first time that an RSS pracharak has been made the state BJP chief. Normally, the RSS only nominates an organizational secretary to the state BJP unit. But this time around, the RSS has taken matters into its hands as it wants the BJP to put up a good show in the assembly elections.

One of the reasons why Kummanam Rajasekharan was made the BJP chief was the keenness of the RSS to ensure that the third front to be forged in the state is led by the BJP itself and not by the Bharatiya Dharma Jana Sena(BDJS), a political party floated by Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP) general secretary, Vellappally Natesan. Kummanam is the only leader who can match Natesan in stature and clout. It also sends out a clear message to Natesan: while we want to have a tie-up with your party, we won’t allow you to dominate the front and hijack the Hindutva agenda.

The former office-bearers of the State BJP, who were a divided lot, are not happy about the developments culminating in the appointment of Kummanam as the party chief in the state. They resent the RSS domination of the state BJP unit. But there is nothing they can do about it. The reason: they themselves are responsible for their present plight and marginalization. After all, they dismally failed to make the BJP a potent organization capable of challenging the dominant fronts in the state, the Congress-led UDF and the CPI(M)-headed LDF while they were at the helm. (IPA Service)