Having narrowed down political differences on crucial issues, senior leaders of the BJP and the swadeshi faction within the RSS are now trying to resolve differences on key economic issues in a two-day brainstorming session which started in Mumbai on Monday.

The session -- Chintan Baithak in the Sangh Parivar's parlance -- is reported to have deliberated on economic issues.

It focused on the areas of agreement between the two constituents of the Sangh Parivar -- the BJP, and the swadeshi faction led by the Bharatiya Majdoor Sangh and the Swadeshi Jagran Manch.

BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu, with his five general secretaries, were invited to the Baithak, which was held at the RSS headquarters.

S Gurumurthy and Murlidhar Rao represented the swadeshi faction. Senior RSS leaders like Mohan Bhagwat and Madan Das Devi acted as moderators to resolve the differences.

That the effort has been necessitated by the BJP's political compulsions is evident from the fact that Naidu approached the RSS leadership and sought its mediation.

After a humiliating electoral drubbing in Himachal Pradesh, the BJP leadership is wary of the growing image of the party working against the interests of the RSS and its sponsored constituents.

The feud between the VHP and the government damaged the party's image, said a senior BJP leader.

Obviously, the hectic efforts within the government to resolve the Ayodhya tangle by seeking legal recourse is seen as a conscious attempt to convey that the government is trying to pave way for the construction of a Ram temple at Ayodhya.

Not only were Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani in touch with Kanchi seer Jayendra Saraswati on this issue, they also sought advice from the RSS leadership.

But what has remained unresolved is the Sangh Parivar's obstinacy on economic issues.

In the ongoing meeting, Swadeshi and BJP leaders have reportedly discussed crucial topics, including the WTO, agriculture, divestment, foreign direct investment, small-scale industry, and labour reforms.

Differences had cropped up between the government and the Swadeshi factions on these issues.

With the BMS-SJM combine deciding to take resort to agitation on these issues in a week, the BJP leadership is apprehensive of the political fallout of the fractured image of the Sangh Parivar in the forthcoming elections in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.