Bihar polls rout : RSS backs Amit Shah against BJP veterans' revolt

NEW DELHI: Amit Shah is likely to survive the Bihar debacle and continue as BJP president after his current term ends. The party’s ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has decided to back PM Narendra Modi’s nominee in the face of the charge of the old brigade led by patriarch LK Advani, senior functionaries of RSS and BJP told ET.

RSS has decided to support Modi to the hilt and let the rebellion of the veteran leaders in the wake of the party’s rout in Bihar polls fizzle out, they said. Shah is currently serving Rajnath Singh’s leftover term that ends in January 2016.

Senior general secretary and former RSS pracharak Muralidhar Rao said, “Amit Shah is not a night watchman.He has been one of the most successful presidents of the party. His first task was to consolidate the support we got in the 2014 LS polls and he did it by winning Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and most importantly for the BJP, J&K.” “Losing the election in an ideological battle is not important.When all the anti-RSS forces come together, what matters is whether the party organisation was sincere and committed. Amit Shah worked hard and everybody knows that,” said Rao.

RSS leaders believe that Modi is completely in sync with the Sangh and there is no need to weaken his position by removing his nominee from the party’s helm, he said. “Which other PM has taken the entire government to the RSS durbar? Modiji symbolises and practises the RSS ideology and agenda and you can’t get a better swayamsevak as the PM,” he said.

Although both BJP and RSS expect the party to lose the local body polls in Gujarat, which might necessitate a change of guard in the state, chief minister Anandiben Patel will most probably be replaced by another Patel leader and not Shah, another senior leader said.

RSS has appreciated Shah’s attempt to engage important Sangh Parivar organisations such as the Kisan Sangh, Mazdoor Sangh and Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram on various issues.

Another RSS leader said, “we have completely diverse elements within the larger Sangh Parivar. There were leaders who had made Vajpayee’s life miserable during NDA-1. Now, we have an absolutely smooth functioning because Shah knows what the Sangh wants and he acts accordingly consulting with the organisational heads all the time.” RSS is also appreciative of Shah’s attempt to consolidate the party organisation in the country’s eastern and southern parts, where the party has been traditionally weak.