A Nehruvian socialist presides over India's first non-Congress 'Hindu nationalist' government. K.R. Narayanan is cut from 1950s cloth, owing allegiance to the three pillars of the Nehruvian consensus: socialism, secularism and India's leadership of the non-aligned world. The BJP, by contrast, is committed to redefine the very consensus for which Narayanan stands. Between the First Citizen and his government, there could be an unstated clash of civilisations.
The first-ever Independence eve interview given to the Left-leaning Frontline editor N. Ram has become controversial. The RSS wonders why an interview with a known Leftist was aired on the national broadcaster. "Eyebrows were raised about the interview and there was some discomfort," says Organiser editor Seshadri Chari. "We have respect for the President. But RSS leaders were unhappy with the way in which certain newspapers reported it. Obviously we are not as comfortable with him as with Advani or Murli Manohar Joshi. We know that he was once a socialist."...
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