RSS ideologue and former BJP general secretary KN Govindacharya has told The Hindu that Modi government’s "support to Ministers accused of acts, ranging from corruption to impropriety, speaks of the political dishonesty of the establishment,'.

This is “a power-centric, not people-centric government in which issues and values have been given a goodbye,” he said in an interview to The Hindu.

Govindacharya slammed the Modi government for protecting four ministers - Smriti Irani, Pankaja Munde, Vasundhara Raje and Sushma Swaraj, saying, “When the Home Minister responds to a demand for resignations of Ministers saying that would be fitting for the UPA but not the NDA, people draw their own conclusions.”

The people, he said, “are driven by morality, not legalities… the message in faraway villages is that something wrong has been committed by those who spoke of zero tolerance for corruption. People understand the concept of a quid pro quo.The perception is that influential and powerful people oblige each other – and this message has also gone down to the party’s own MPs, MLAs and panchayat members,” he added.

“Narendra Modi is an intelligent, knowledgeable person and must have understood the extent of damage to his credibility,” Mr. Govindacharya said. “I hope political sense will prevail before Parliament resumes… Electoral defeats and successes are just a passing phase but goodwill and credibility among the people needs to be safeguarded.”

Govindacharya rubbished the idea that the loss of a state government is of importance in this case. "Narendra Modi is head and shoulders above everyone in his party… He should be intelligent enough to forsake one State government rather than allow a scratch on his credibility.”

Responding to the many voices of dissent heard in recent days – whether BJP MP Kirti Azad, former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha and LK Advani – he said, “There is a heavy dialogue and trust deficit within the party which acts against the spirit of teamwork. Lack of participation in decision-making is felt intensely by those who expect themselves to be involved, whether MPs, MLAs or National Executive members. Most of them feel they don’t get an opportunity for an audience with senior leaders, forget participation.”