The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has assumed the role of a mediator to iron out the simmering differences of opinion plaguing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State unit.
The RSS leadership is learnt to have designated its State organising secretary (Prantha Pracharak) Harikrishna Kumar to engage the BJP core committee members to settle the differences and create a conducive milieu that will enable them to function smoothly. The intervention comes in the wake of complaints that the party leadership was acting in an arbitrary manner and denying room for democratic dissent.
Party sources told The Hindu here that Mr. Kumar had already held several rounds of consultations with top leaders and would continue the process till the pending issues were resolved. Lack of transparency in decision-making, absence of room for discussion within the organisation, and manner in which decisions were imposed on workers are understood to have been aired by a section of leaders who met Mr.Kumar as part of the patch-up bid.
Despite claims that the Janaraksha Yatra led by party State unit president Kummanam Rajasekharan was a success, the organisational laxity in cultivating a camaraderie among the leaders and inability in ensuring a seamless cooperation of various factions have come up during the interaction.
The national leadership’s alleged neglect towards the State leaders and its decisions to induct rank outsiders or freshers in prime positions, ignoring the claims and concerns of party leaders are understood to have been flagged by leaders of all factions.
The induction of Alphons Kannanthanam into the Union Cabinet without taking the State leadership into confidence and the decision to nominate Suresh Gopi as Rajya Sabha member had caused considerable heartburn among the leaders and this was sounded during the course of discussions, sources said.
The RSS State leadership is seized of the schism and disgruntlement among leaders over the alleged neglect of the national leadership. But the national leadership had categorically said that the State unit need not set hopes on anything without improving its electoral performance. The latest move was aimed at toning up the organisational machinery before the Lok Sabha elections, sources said.
