The tussle, which first surfaced in March when this lobby succeeded in knocking Jaswant Singh out of the Finance Minister's job, has intensified after the BJP's electoral humiliation and is threatening to escalate into a full-blown war over the Insurance Bill. But this time, unlike his capitulation at the time of Cabinet formation, Vajpayee appears determined to fight back.

The clearest indication of his new aggressive mood is the induction of Singh and Pramod Mahajan into his Cabinet in defiance of the Sangh's writ on Lok Sabha losers. Political circles see in this move a warning from Vajpayee to all sections of the Sangh Parivar to lay off.

Singh's appointment is particularly significant because just two days ago, senior RSS ideologue Dattopant Thengadi blamed thedecision to allow foreign companies into the insurance sector on the Jaswant Singh-Strobe Talbott talks.

The Cabinet salvo comes in the wake of critical murmurs within the Sangh against Vajpayee's team in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and suggestions that some heads must roll for the onion fiasco. The prime minister's response to this attack on his turf has been two-fold. He reconstituted the Cabinet Committee on Prices with himself as its chairman instead of Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha. And today, he enlarged his council of ministers with his own men.

Vajpayee's invocation of his prime ministerial authority could lead to a showdown within the party over the Insurance Bill which seems to have become a prestige issue. And the outcome of the tussle would be decisive in determining the role of the Sangh, particularly the swadeshi lobby, in government decisions.

The prime minister is believed to have invoked the authority of RSS chief Rajju Bhaiya to rein in the swadeshiwallahs. The signals fromRajju Bhaiya so far seem to be encouraging as he did apparently stave off an embarrassment for the government by asking swadeshi sympathisers among party MPs to stay away from the Swadeshi Jagran Manch's dharna against the Insurance Bill.

The Manch is the brainchild of RSS joint general secretary K S Sudarshan. He may not have any official position in the Manch but he is largely responsible for the swadeshi turn in the BJP's economic agenda. Vajpayee seems to be moving quickly to show who's the boss.

In another salvo to the Sangh, he directed Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh to sack Education Minister and RSS man Ravindra Shukla for daring to make Vande Mataram a compulsory hymn in schools without consulting either the Centre or the State Government. His next step is likely to be the overhaul of the Press Information Bureau (PIB) to streamline the dissemination of information to the media.