NEW DELHI: After casting its shadow on the new BJP team, the party’s ideological parent RSS has now shifted its focus on the appointment of heads of crucial art and cultural bodies. The Narendra Modi government is facing pushes and pulls from the Sangh over appointment of chiefs of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), Sangeet Natak Akademi, Kalashetra and the Censor Board of Film Certification (CBFC).RSS believes Indian art and culture have been relegated to the background by successive governments and need to be promoted aggressively. “The review of these bodies is under way. Now that the ministers are also relatively free with Parliament session coming to an end, a decision on these critical bodies will be taken soon,” an RSS leader said.ICCR is headed by Congress leader Karan Singh , who has been the longest-serving chairman of the premier body for cultural diplomacy.Owing to his seniority, the veteran leader whose tenure is ending on August 19 wasn’t nudged by the government to quit. Sources in BJP said Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher was being considered to replace him. “The government has to take a call whether an elected MP should be given the additional task of handling a crucial body. Modiji believes that an MP’s job is to nurture his or her constituency full-time,” said a BJP leader A huge tussle was underway over the appointment of chairpersons of the Sangeet Natak Akademi and Kalashetra. Bharat Natyam exponent Leela Samson was considered the cultural czarina of UPA, at one time heading three major bodies — Sangeet Natak Akademi, Kalashetra and CBFC. She quit as Kalashetra director two years ago following a PIL, challenging her continuance after she turned 60. Her successor, Gopal Krishna Gandhi , quit in May soon after BJP-led government came to power.There are senior artists who are vying for the post and lobbying with RSS. Kalashetra, according to sources, was going to become more important with the government planning to revive the Festival of India programme under its aegis. Samson’s term as CBFC chairperson ended recently and RSS had suggested former actor Suresh Oberoi ’s name to head the cash-rich influential body.However, the government was keen to appoint a more “creative” person from a film industry other than Bollywood.Samson, who still has one year of the tenure left as Sangeet Natak Akademi chairperson, said she had not been asked by the government to quit. She told ET that the term of the executive board and general council of the Akademi had expired. “Prudence would say that the government should appoint a new board before asking me to quit. It would not be in the Akademi’s interest to leave it without an executive board and a chairperson,” she said.Samson said she has no problems with the new government wanting to appoint “someone they consider their own”. Samson said the government wasn’t investing enough in culture and it was always low on its priority list. She didn’t think that UPA did enough in the field.