For instance, in the immediate aftermath of the Babri masjid demolition in 1992, the then primus inter pares in the BJP, Atal Behari Vajpayee, is said to have contemplated resignation. Since he was dissuaded from taking the fateful step, Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia had taken pride in the fact that the party hadn’t split as a result of the act of vandalism.

More than a decade later, when L.K. Advani was dragged kicking and screaming from the BJP president’s post on the orders of the RSS after he praised Mohammed Ali Jinnah during a visit to Pakistan, he had expressed dissatisfaction over the influence wielded by the RSS over the BJP. The RSS chief of the time, K.S. Sudarshan, had called upon Vajpayee and Advani to make way for the younger generation.

Even if the divergence of views between the two outfits is lesser this time, it still cannot be ignored. The present differences are about the love jehad and ghar wapsi programmes of the Hindutva Gestapo. The BJP may not have any major disagreement with their objectives, as a party functionary pointed out, but it doesn’t want them to be carried out in the present vigorous manner in view of the resultant controversy.

It is patent enough that the Narendra Modi government feels that the two campaigns directed against the minorities – to which a third, bahu lao, beti bachao has been added by the Bajrang Dal – will undermine the government’s modernistic image inside and outside the country. Besides, they have the potential of triggering communal unrest, which will deter both domestic and foreign investors.

The possibility of widening the communal gulf follows directly from the love jehad and bahu lao, beti bachao slogans which are complementary in nature where stirring up trouble is concerned. While the former warns Hindu girls against Muslim boys trapping them into marriage, the bahu lao advice encourages Hindu boys to marry Muslim girls. At the same time, the Hindu families are told to save their daughters from Muslim machinations like love jehad.

A great deal of thought must have been expended in the RSS shakhas and other conclaves to conjure up these campaigns with the evident intention of sowing mistrust. The intensity and urgency with which they are being pursued are probably to compensate for the restraint being shown by the RSS and the VHP to put off for a year the issue of constructing the Ram temple. This show of moderation is presumably in response to Modi’s call for a year-long moratorium on sectarian animosity.

But, since it will dishearten the saffron cadres to sit idly for so long when the installation of a BJP government at the centre has revived their hopes of advancing towards a Hindu rashtra, the saffron brotherhood has evidently to follow other militant paths.

Although the hardliners are making absurd claims that the ghar wapsi or homecoming of the Muslims into the Hindu fold will eradicate the problem of Islamic terrorism and thereby help the government’s development agenda, it is obvious that a tense atmosphere will not be conducive to economic growth.

Besides, if the hardliners persist with their provocative words and deeds, the impression of Modi as someone who brooks no nonsense will be eroded. At present, his word is law in the government and party. But, if he is seen to be unable to control the hotheads, as he was able to do in Gujarat, then his widely acclaimed magic will be on the wane.

Since politics is a matter of perception, the belief that Modi is vulnerable will be politically fatal for him at a time when his chariot has been halted at the gates of the Kashmir valley and the BJP was able to secure only a bare majority in Jharkhand with the help of its ally, the All Jharkhand Student’s Union. Moreover, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha was able to hold its own just as the Shiv Sena showed in the Maharashtra polls that it wasn’t quite a pushover even after Bal Thackeray’s death.

Considering that the BJP could win a mere 2.2 per cent of the votes in the Kashmir valley, it is clear that the Muslims have turned resolutely against the party apparently because of the antics of the saffron extremists. This sign of aversion suggests that the BJP will not find it easy to secure the Muslim votes in the forthcoming assembly elections in Delhi. Since Muslims comprise 11.7 per cent of the capital’s population, the loss cannot be ignored, especially if the minorities – both Muslims and Christians - turn unitedly in favour of the Aam Admi Party (AAP), which is expected to be the BJP’s main opponent in Delhi.

There is little doubt that the BJP will win, but a creditable performance by the AAP cannot but be ascribed by the moderates in the BJP to the politically immature adventurism of the RSS. (IPA Service)