Prime Minister Narendra Modi's approach to India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, has always been staccato and perfunctory, if he mentions him at all. So it was on November 14, the 125th birth anniversary, when Modi's office put out a statement simply acknowledging Nehru's service as the first prime minister. This antipathy to Nehru, a common theme across the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Modi era, had one notable exception: Home Minister Rajnath Singh.



These are not comfortable positions to hold, as the tweets from BJP fans in response to Singh would make evident. Yet Rajnath, a former BJP president and current home minister, was the one deputed to stand next to Congress President Sonia Gandhi at a function commemorating Nehru, and give a speech where he made his thoughts on the first prime minister clear. Singh was the one deputed to do the same last year, although headlines from that remember his praise for Modi more than his comments about Nehru.

And this isn't the only occasion on which Rajnath, who has been relatively  under the radar despite holding one of the most important ministries, has struck a tone that is significantly different from the rest of his party in the last few weeks alone.

First, the home minister effectively laid down the template with which the BJP and the government should have used if they didn't want the intolerance debate to become an international talking point. While the BJP was off releasing a booklet about how anti-nationals and so-called seculars were conspiring to ruin India and Modi's image by talking about intolerance, Rajnath's words were markedly different:
"The news of intolerance that we are getting from electronic and print media is very worrisome. For us, these are issues of concern... We should not be getting any complaints of intolerance on the basis of caste, creed, religion or sect."

He went even further. Instead of toeing the BJP line that those returning awards because of intolerance were politically motivated anti-nationals, Rajnath instead simply invited them to discuss the matter. "Returning awards is not the right thing," Singh said. "I request the writers and scientists to come and meet the prime minister and give their suggestions, the Union government will take concrete steps on those."

If the rest of the government had reacted like this, and not by immediately labeling those raising their voices as politically motivated, it would have been the writers who seemed intolerant if they refused to engage with the government.

Just last week, Rajnath once against struck a conciliatory note, this time with a little more influence on the rest of the party. After the old guard of the BJP made their pitch to go after Modi and party president Amit Shah for having been defeated in the Bihar elections, others in the party immediately started attacking the elders for their dissent. However, Rajnath reportedly said that dissent should not be crushed and instead the views of the old guard should be examined carefully.

Once again, here was a softer face than the rest of the BJP, for a man who is no less attached to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the party line. What gives?

Chatter emerging from the party suggest that Singh, a remarkable politician whose return to the BJP's presidency after he backed Modi was truly an inspired move, may once again be gunning to head the party if Shah makes way after the end of his term this year. Singh, it is said, is looking ahead to controlling the party in time for elections in his home state of Uttar Pradesh.

Even if that isn't the ultimate aim, it is clear that Singh is positioning himself closer to the centre in an environment where the rest of the BJP's leadership has pitched hard right.