Sonia’s absence, senior leaders felt, had fuelled the debate on the song. They saw in it an opportunity to revive the foreign-origin debate and package Hindutva as nationalism.
A senior leader told The Indian Express, “We will tell people that it was just natural for Sonia not to salute Mother India. She is being just what she is.”
Caught between RSS pressure to push Hindutva and the NDA partners’ insistence that it keep that agenda on the backburner, the BJP hopes to now make it to the good books of the Sangh again.
In fact, a booklet released today by the party on Vande Mataram contains quotes from Parivar leaders like RSS chief K S Sudarshan and VHP chief Ashok Singhal.
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