Varun Gandhi has split both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the National Democratic Alliance wide open, even as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and its activists have hailed him as the new saffron hero of Hindutva.
Sources in the BJP state that a disturbed Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar had got in touch with senior BJP leaders including LK Advani in the wake of the utterances by Varun Gandhi which created quite a stir.
Kumar had pointed out that since the JD-U was fielding a number of Muslim candidates and since the NDA could expect to substantially increase its tally from Bihar in the wake of the good performance of his government, such statements should be unambiguously condemned by the BJP leadership, in particular L.K.Advani who was being projected as the NDA's prime ministerial candidate.
Sources state that realizing the wisdom of what Nitish Kumar was saying and their own calculation that giving a carte blanche to Varun could damage the BJP in other states outside UP and to get the back-up of its allies, LK Advani had agreed to issue a statement condemning Varun Gandhi and his "hate speech against the muslims and the sikhs".
But before that could be done, the newly installed RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat is reported to have put his foot down and instructed the BJP top brass to fully back Varun Gandhi. Bhagwat is reported to have made it clear that there was no question of either condemning words of the young Gandhi, or apologizing for it.
In the context of this strong endorsement for Varun Gandhi by the RSS supremo, sources said Advani is said to have kept his counsel and remained mum. But BJP leaders say they are worried of the fallout of the Varun episode in Bihar and other states, in particular how it would impact the allies as the BJP is once again seen to have rolled back its consensual agenda and gone