With the Bharatiya Janata Party and Vishwa Hindu Parishad on a collision course, the crucial Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh meet in Kanyakumari will spend considerable time finding ways to restore peace between the two Sangh Parivar constituents before the impending polls.
VHP international chief Ashok Singhal's clamour for Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's resignation citing his failure to enact a legislation to construct a Ram temple in Ayodhya has widened the chasm between the VHP and the BJP.
Consequently, the RSS, which has successfully acted as a mediator between the two in the past, has again got the unenviable task of pacifying the VHP leadership.
This time, however, its task will be made more difficult by the VHP's efforts to mobilise support among parliamentarians for a legislation in support of temple construction in Ayodhya.
While a few hardline BJP MPs do favour such a legislation, the majority fear it will bring down the Vajpayee government since National Democratic Alliance constituents, especially the Samata Party and the Trinamool Congress, are staunchly opposed to it.
Earlier, RSS spokesman Ram Madhav had told rediff.com that the Sangh favours legislation to solve the Ayodhya issue.
It is still not clear exactly how the RSS will pacify the VHP and at the same time extract some concession from the BJP.
What is clear is that the RSS leadership does not want to be seen as taking sides.
The Congress insists the Sangh Parivar deliberately raked up the Ayodhya issue with an eye on the assembly elections in November this year.
"We have repeatedly said that only a court verdict is acceptable to us and the people as it would be in tune with the essence of justice. The rest (the wrangling among Sangh Parivar outfits) is pure drama with an eye on the polls," pointed out chief Congress spokesman S Jaipal Reddy.
