After former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's endorsement of his team, it appeared to be the turn of RSS now to throw its weight behind Bharatiya Janata Party chief Rajnath Singh over his selection of the party's national executive and office-bearers in which Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was dropped from the parliamentary board.
"The new team is a carefully crafted exercise in political manoeuvre and accommodation," an editorial in Sangh mouthpiece Organiser said.
The endorsement came as a row appeared to be brewing in the saffron party over removal of Modi from its Parliamentary Board and General Secretary Arun Jaitley, the BJP's prominent media face, as spokesman.
The Sangh organ noted that the party has been a victim of bad press since it lost the 2004 general elections.
"Even its good performance in state assembly and local bodies' elections could not change that media disdain," it said as news reports suggested that the removal of Jaitley as the chief spokesman and Modi from the highest-decision making body of the party could have an adverse impact.
The RSS publication appeared to be rejecting notions that the BJP chief carried out changes out of personal preferences.
"He (Singh) resisted the temptation to change for its own sake. He has cobbled together a young team of office-bearers, sticking to the principle of continuity with change," the Organiser wrote. It described Singh's selection as a "perfectly inclusive team in an organisationally exclusive structure". "The beauty is that he has not disturbed the rhythm of the onward march."
