Mohan Bhagwat is the man on the spot as far as revamping the Bharatiya Janata Party is concerned. And, his mantra is clear and simple: “Hand over the reins to the younger crop.” He has fixed the age limit at sixty.

This dampens the spirits of erstwhile stalwarts of BJP such as Dr. Murali Manohar Joshi who were waiting in the wings to take over the reins from Lal Krishna Advani once he made way for them. Now, the senior leaders may be being banished to old age homes and their age-old wisdom may be destined to retire with them paving the way for a fresh approach from the younger leaders who are expected to revitalize the party and revive its past glory.

After infighting, one-upmanship and factional fights witnessed in the BJP in recent times plunging the party into abysmal depths, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief, Mohan Bhagwat, is taking the initiative to inject fresh blood into the sagging spirit of the party.

We have heard of political parties which have cultural wings. Political parties are known to use their cultural wings to meet their political ends all over the world.

But, it is different with the Bharatiya Janata Pary. The RSS is supposed to be an apolitical cultural organization which is trying to dictate terms the BJP which is a national entity as a political party. It is a different matter that many of the BJP party men are members of the RSS. The concept of cultural organizations that use political parties to meet their political ends throw up an unusual phenomenon that needs to be understood in greater detail. The relationship between the RSS and the BJP is clearer now than ever before.

One thing is clear: Hindutva will have a major role in the BJP-RSS agenda in the time to come. Hopefully, there would be fewer Rath Yatras with the exit of Lal Krishna Advani. Also, one hopes that there would be no repeat performances of incidents like the Jaswant Singh episode.

The battle lines are drawn. How far Mohan Baghwat’s mantra succeeds will depend upon how willingly the oldies bow out of important positions and how competently the younger leaders of the party take to their new assignment—to lead their party and, perhaps, the nation…