With virtually its entire established leadership in government today, the BJP faces the formidable task of regrouping and creating an entirely new hierarchy sans the familiar Vajpayee-Advani-Joshi triumvirate.

In a sense, it is an identity crisis. Like the Left parties, the BJP would like to maintain a clear distinction between the party and the government, particularly when the latter is a shaky, contradiction-ridden coalition. Yet, when virtually all its prominent leaders are in government, the line is bound to be blurred.

The two-day meet of the National Council will attempt to clear the growing confusion in BJP ranks over the disappearing role of the party as it transits from an opposition force to a ruling conglomerate in which diversity has overtaken discipline. Being a party show, the plenarysession can be expected to reiterate the BJP's commitment to its core agenda. At the same time, it will have to balance this "hard line" with the compulsions of the coalition it heads.

The irony is that the party has chosen an ageing Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) pracharak to manage these contradictions. And Thakre has his task cut out for him. He will have to consolidate and expand the party's base, keep the morale of the party cadre high and infuse in them a sense of hope for the future, despite being limited by the demands of coalition politics.

Thakre's success will depend largely on the team he chooses to help him. The new BJP High Command will be constituted soon after the plenary session. But those who are expected to play an important role in the months to come are two other RSS pracharaks, Govindacharya and Narendra Modi, and a former Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad activist and general secretary in the present setup, Venkaiah Naidu.

Those who will not find a place in the newhierarchy include high-profile general secretaries Pramod Mahajan and Sushma Swaraj and vice presidents Sunder Singh Bhandari and Madan Lal Khurana, all of whom occupy official positions in government.

Clearly, the attempt to draw the dividing line between the party and the government will begin with this strict implementation of the one-man one-post rule. And the distinction will be emphasised by giving the ministers a purely ornamental role in the proceedings of the Council. Some of them are not even sure whether they will be asked to speak. This is the first time in several decades that RSS pracharaks will dominate party positions. To some extent, this has been forced on the BJP after the wholesale transfer of personnel to the Government. But it also reflects the increasingly important role the parent organisation of the BJP is likely to play in party affairs in an effort to keep the cadre on a tight leash.

As with all transition periods, the months ahead will be trying ones for the BJP and RSS.