Addressing the triennial national conference of the BMS, the trade union arm of the RSS, at Nagpur yesterday, Thengadi said: ``Vajpayee could provide effective leadership to the developing countries in fighting against western economic imperialism.''

In fact, Thengadi went as far as to say that ``after Lal Bahadur Shastri, it is only Vajpayee who has given India a strong leadership.''

Thengadi's assertion assumes significance as he had emerged as one of the bitter critics of the Vajpayee Government's economic policies.

So much so that while addressing a Swadeshi Jagaran Manch rally in November last, he had blasted the ruling coalition for pursuing ``anti-people and anti-nationaleconomic policies.'' He had also dersisively termed `Artha Mantri' (Finance Minister) Yashwant Sinha as ``anarth mantri.''

More recently, while inaugurating the BMS convention at Nagpur on February 15, Thengadi had allegedly criticised Vajpayee by saying that he had become ``a petty politician by acting on the advice of the wrong people.''

His remarks had raised a lot of eyebrows within the Sangh parivar. Worried about its fallout on the BJP-led Government's image and also perhaps prompted by the realization that differences within the parivar on certain key ideological issues were being received with delight by their political opponents, RSS chief Rajendra Singh and joint general-secretary K S Sudarshan got into the act.

As a result of their efforts, a truce has now been brokered between Vajpayee and the veteran RSS leader. ``Instead of targeting Vajpayee and his Government, the various arms of the Sangh will now train their guns on the previous political regimes for the country's present economicwoes,'' a senior RSS leader remarked.

The BMS and the SJM have organised another rally outside Parliament on Thursday. But, following the truce, it has now been rechristened as a ``Quit WTO'' rally, in which the participants, the RSS leader pointed out, would reaffirm their faith in Vajpayee's leadership and call upon him to lead them.Observers, however, feel that the truce between the two senior leaders is a tactical one and is, therefore, likely to be at best a temporary one. ``The BMS would not like to do anything which might embarrass the Vajpayee Government at this crucial juncture,'' a senior BMS leader said.