Monday, July 4 2005 11:03 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Surat: Keen to build bridges with an angry Sangh Parivar, it was BJP President L K Advani and not any pressure from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) which made party's national secretary Sudheendra Kulkarni to resign yesterday (July 3, 2005) in the wake of his critical remarks against the saffron brigade.

With Pracharaks and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leaders attending the three-day RSS conclave in Surat apparently upset over Advani's controversial statements in Pakistan, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief was keen to send a message that he would not tolerate any public criticism of the Parivar by any leader, howsoever close to him.

Advani was also keen to dispel the impression in Sangh the leakage and that he was 'protecting' Kulkarni.Though, Sangh Parivar leaders were seething with anger over Kulkarni's letter 'leaked' to the media on the eve of the RSS conclave, they chose not to exert any pressure and leave it to Advani to act, Sangh sources said.

The BJP sources said Advani was extremely upset with the leakage of the letter as it poured cold water on his recent attempts to patch up with the RSS. Advani was not happy with last month's leakage of Kulkarni's papers presented at the RSS Chintan Baithak in Bhopal earlier this year, which favoured a pro-active policy to woo Muslims.

"But the leakage of Kulkarni's personal letter on the eve the crucial RSS meeting irked him no end," a senior leader said.