To understand the intensity of the saffron disaster, one has to view the 'Whole' or what the TV anchors nauseatingly repeat the big picture. The issues before the party comprise Arun Jaitley's mismanagement of elections, Rajnath Singh's dictatorial behaviour, fight among the second rankers for power and position, re-imposition of the rigid Hindutva, ouster of the wizkids and dumping of the unsustainable Advani model. Each of this is intrinsically interlinked. Take the allegations against Rajnath Singh. Other non-Advani BJP presidents like Murli Manohar Joshi too had faced similar charge.

The last three issues mentioned above are more fundamental. And all these are signs of a party in crisis, agonisingly undergoing a transition. The continuing bitter power struggles is part of the changes the contours of which are yet to be defined. Consider the endless hype on Jaswant Singh's intellectual liberty. He has not written anything in his book that is unknown to historians. He raised the issues only after he had to vacate the room in Parliament House when Jaitley was made the opposition leader. Then he went public against Jaitley's 'performance and reward.' Yet Advani gave him the PAC job. Is this intolerance, BJP leaders ask. Among other dissenters, he alone was invited to the baithak.

Party leaders say that for Jaswant Singh, Ku Klux Klan is okay so long as he enjoyed all possible power and perk. Now that he cannot rise up further under Mohan Bhagwat's age criterion for party president, he has become a great liberal, a liberator, say BJP leaders. Let's don't beat the bush. The Jaswant hype and Shourie props are not accidental. It signalled a formidable line-up of forces that had all along touted the failed Advani model of BJP running.

Powerful corporates, which wanted a better alternative to the present PM with regard to economic and foreign policies in case he has to exit; foreign powers whose visiting dignitaries made it a point to meet Advani; neo 'pseudo secularists' of the old durbar scared of the 'pracharak' domination; failed scribes and backroom operators who could all the while manipulate the policy decisions - all have joined this last-ditch battle to 'salvage' the BJP.

The idea is to make Jaswant Singh a catalytic force in this save-BJP war. A corporate honcho had in June personally canvassed with Advani to make Jaswant opposition leader. But Advani had to take it over himself. That was how things worked in the old model. In the ongoing battle, the same forces had made frantic moves to rally round all available BJP leaders so that the RSS could be arm-twisted into dumping its chief's reform package. Some forces even tried to rope in Advani to lead this epic battle to create a genuine secular, right-wing party out of the BJP debris. But the media-driven operation badly misfired. Finally they had to be content with a Kulkarni and ailing leaders like Fernandes and Vajpayee.

The problem with such political coup d'etat is that it can never work in BJP. Forget Uma Bharati. What happened to the three-time chief minister and great backwards icon Kalyan Singh? Where are Keshubhai Patel and Shankarsinh Vaghela, builders of RSS/BJP in Gujarat? The BJP's organisational structure is such that a vertical split can never be successful. Advani knows this better. Now the only thing they can try to control the policies of the now evolving BJP is to use the media power to soften the Parivar economic prescriptions. Barring the Swadeshi noises, the RSS is basically pro-economic liberalization. A few weeks back Bhagwat had sufficiently assailed China. Those who had failed to break BJP can take comfort from such good omen.

Going back to the chintan baithak, nothing much has come out of it. This is because every thing was wrong with it. Sariska had produced results as it had a mix of stalwarts from the BJP, RSS, BMS and the then hyperactive Swadeshis. That has been the format in successful baithaks. No proper groundwork like prior informal consultations was done. So many issues have been put into the crowded agenda. Can you resolve the leadership issue at such a forum?

Yet there was total unanimity on one issue - for full and unreserved commitment to the Hindutva and submission to subtle RSS oversight. There will be no dilution of this. It also resolved to fulfill the other four points contained in Bhagwat's Five Commandments to the political wing. Leaders say that the 'Road Ahead' resolution containing the BJP's commitments, core political programmes and actions is going to be a basic document. Being prepared in consultation with others, 'Road Ahead' will be adopted at the national executive meeting in October next.

Leaders clarify that contrary to what the old backroom boys accuse, the BJP will not wear Hindutva on its sleeves. But it will not repudiate it either. The RSS emphasis is more on a harmonious relationship with other parivar outfits. All that they want to prevent is hijacking of the BJP establishment by the outside strategists, PR smarties and lobbyists. Hereafter, no super leader can impose readymade decisions on the party, and then on the parivar as a fait accompli. Consultations and consensus, rather than a supremo's personal announcements, will be the norm. Instead of relying solely on the efficacy of election management, there will be action plans in favour of people's needs, including the middle classes.

Advani himself will be the overall in-charge of the transition into a new BJP. But, sources say, he will be assisted not by the outside operators but the party activists who have links with grassroots. There is opposition to creating another super deity to lead the BJP. Rather than being a 'dictator', a BJP president in future will have to be a repository of consensus. And like the mimamsic swarga, it will not be a permanent gift. However, the crucial question is: to what extent will such lofty ideas work in an organization that is now in the thick and thin of faction fights? Second, now that the RSS boss himself is taking charge of the BJP, rather unusually, the former will have a more activist role in BJP with all its implications. (IPA Service)