The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday launched damage-control exercises after RSS chief K S Sudarshan attacked former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on TV.
In the remarks, seen on NDTV on Monday, Sudarshan said Vajpayee had not not done enough for Ram Temple construction in Ayodhya.
He was also critical of the then principal secretary, Brajesh Mishra, and the "intereference" of his foster son-in-law Ranjan Bhattacharya in the functioning of the government and the party.
After Sudarshan said younger leaders should replace Vajpayee and Lal Kishenchand Advani, the RSS stepped in to say that Advani should continue as the BJP President.
"The RSS has always held the leadership of Vajpayee and Advani in high esteem and maintained that the party needs their guidance and leadership always," RSS spokesman Ram Madhav told reporters here quoting a statement of Sangh general secretary Mohan Bhagwat.
'Make way for younger leaders'
The RSS statement praised Advani for his "yeoman contribution" to BJP as its president and otherwise also and "in the last few months the party is trying to reorganise itself well under his leadership."
Bhagwat said Sudarshan has made it clear to him that his very general observations in a television interview regarding age factor in politics "were taken out of context to create such an erroneous impression" that Advani and Vajpayee should quit their posts.
"Now this issue may be deemed close once and for all," Madhav said.
From the BJP side, its newly-appointed vice-president M Venkaiah Naidu sought to play down the RSS attack saying there was no no scope for further debate after Bhagwat's clarification on the issue.
"The chapter is closed," he said.
RSS flays Vajpayee for Gujarat remarks
He said the BJP was committed to grooming the younger generation and both Vajpayee and Advani had made efforts in that direction.
Asked whether the BJP-RSS ties have been strained in the wake of Sudarshan's statement, Naidu said, "There are no differences. We see everything in the right spirit."
Sudarshan said Advani was a good administrator and ensured that he never became a power centre.
"We used to tell Atalji about the areas in which things were not not going the way it should have but they used to say that we have now got power for the first time and we should not try and rake up all the issues. But what is the use of having power for the sake of power," he said.
Asked why he has not mentioned Vajpayee in the list of best prime ministers, Sudarshan said, "I don't think he has done a good job. When he made a decision he never took people along with him. That is why the people were annoyed with him."
On Ayodhya issue, he said "....but what he (Vajpayee) could do, he did not do. What he could do about Ram Janambhoomi issue he did not do. .....the decison of the Supreme Court which said return the land. He did not."
To a question whether Vajpayee's "family" was an issue, Sudarshan said yes. He said he had told him when he became prime minister for the first time that because of his age he needed assistance and that was why his son-in-law was asssisting him.
"But nowehere should be allowed to interfere in the party's or the government's affairs. To this, he (Vajpayee) replied that though the point is relevant but it was difficult."
On Brajesh Mishra, Sudarshan said he had rightly attacked him. "Mishra was aligned with both Sonia Gandhi and us. That time when I pointed out this, he was annoyed."
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