Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh will celebrate its centenary year in 2025 on Dussehra Day. In Hindu soliloquy attaining an age of one hundred years, “Jeevem Saradah Satamah” by an individual, is the most propitious achievement. In the case of RSS, as an organisation, this has got more importance for the Hindu philosophy and politics. An organisation attaining this feat is really of historical achievement. Most of the organisations start declining or even dissolve before approaching their centenary. Undoubtedly RSS is an exception, as it attained most covetable achievement in its centenary year. It is ruling India through its political wing BJP.
But indeed a melancholy. In the auspicious centenary year, its sarsanghchalak, the chief, Mohan Bhagwat ironically has lost his authority and command on the organisation. In an organisation where sarsanghchalak is revered similar to god and his words are the manifestation of the ideological contour and define political course, Bhagwat losing his status and authority is certainly a matter of concern for the organisation and its rank and file. While the words of the past sarsangchalaks were treated like commandments by saffron ecosystem, there are little takers for the preachings of Bhagwat in the centenary year.
It is no more a secret that RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, the sarsanghchalak of the theist RSS, has lost his authority and command on the organisation. Narendra Modi consciously and in a planned manner has belittled his image and credibility. During eleven years’ of his rule, Modi, a RSS pracharak, met Bhagwat only once at the RSS headquarter. This obviously implied that he did not bother for Bhagwat’s suggestions and advice.
RSS and especially Bhagwat has been pushing for a RSS leader as the new national president of BJP. But Modi ignoring his directive to have a RSS leader as the new president of the party is the candid proof of his treating Bhagwat’s suggestion with contempt. In fact the party president J P Nadda had manifested this disrespect in 2024 itself, well before holding of the Lok Sabha elections saying “BJP does not need RSS”.
Bhagwat is the sarsanghchalak, the supreme ideological head, but he has been relegated to the status of titular head. Ever since Nadda completed his term in 2023, Bhagwat has been staking for an RSS leader as the party chief. But even after two and half years of Nadda’s formal retirement, he continues to function as the chief. The reason is simple. Modi needs an acolyte who will carry out his diktats. He dislikes a parallel power centre. An RSS leader as president would prove to be potential threat to his hegemony. This is the reason that Modi has been intentionally ignoring his pleas.
Modi did not have national appeal and following amongst the saffron cadres and leaders when he was projected as the prime ministerial candidate at the Goa national conference of BJP. Bhagwat along with L K Advani promoted him. After getting elected, the first task of Modi was to isolate Advani and turn him dysfunctional. But he could not dare to remove or isolate Bhagwat at that time as he was RSS chief. In a well designed move he started ignoring him, sending the message that Bhagwat was of no use for BJP.
The Hindu Hridaya Samrat Narendra Modi did every thing feasible to push Bhagwat to the periphery of the saffron politics and decision making structure. Modi disliked the preachings and sermons of Bhagwat. Modi successfully created a situation inside the saffron ecosystem where Bhagwat’s advices were unwanted. It was in 2023 itself when many top RSS leaders had cautioned Bhagwat and asked him to tighten the screw. But he did not dare to do so.
While Modi has been hell bent on proving himself as politically indispensable for the BJP and India, Bhagwat has been striving to demonstrate the invincibility of RSS in promoting the cause of Hindu and politics of Hindutva. Nothing could explain this in a more appropriate manner than the analysis of the recently held assembly elections to Haryana, Maharashtra and Delhi. While Modi and his aides correlated the BJP victories in these states to the charisma of Modi, the RSS is on the record to claim that RSS cadres were responsible for these electoral gains.
The latest power struggle between Modi and Bhagwat has surfaced in the matter of voters’ list revision. RSS has not opposed move of Modi publicly but it does not favour it either. Modi has already launched the scheme in Bihar with much fanfare. The victim of this move, even according to RSS leaders, would be the vast population of EBCs and Dalits, the target of the RSS. It has been in a sustained manner convincing these classes that they are Hindus.
The enumerators going around the villages seek original birth certificates as proof of their claims of being natives and an Indian. It is an open secret that a sizeable population of these people do not possess documents to prove their identity. Obviously they face the potent threat of losing their national identity. Once they are denied nationality, they would automatically be denied the right to vote. It is explicit Modi is doing this for his political survival. Their shifting their allegiance to INDIA in recently held elections has sent a strong message to Modi that Dalits and EBCs do not like him.
This electoral move of Modi will help him focus more on the middle class and strengthen his support base amongst them. But this will jeopardise the political interest of RSS which has been trying to identify them as Hindus. This will have an adverse impact on the RSS plan to declare India as a Hindu Rashtra. Sources maintain that RSS was determined to announce its plan during the centenary celebration. But now it appears that it would hold back its decision for some more time.
In this backdrop holding of three day Bharatiya Prant Pracharak Baithak in Delhi from July 4 has attained much importance. During these two years, RSS has held more than a dozen meet of the Akhil Bharatiya Prant Pracharak. The issue of having a new president of its choice reverberated at every meet. This meet would be of different nature, having different contour.
It is a meet of RSS, but the well placed sources confide that some top BJP leaders may participate at the meet and engage in some discussions with RSS functionaries to discuss the issue of presidential selection. According to these sources the Gujarat duo, Modi and Amit Shah had conveyed to the RSS leadership, especially to Bhagwat to let the present arrangement continue till Bihar assembly election. Modi has chalked out a plan for the election and any organisational fracas will jeopardise the electoral interest of the BJP, which in turn adversely harm the long term political interest of RSS.
The resurgence of the centrist and democratic forces under INDIA and their coming to power in Bihar will have an adverse impact on the support base of BJP and RSS. Modi wants that RSS must endorse Modi’s political line of electoral roll revision to strengthen its base amongst the upper caste and urban middle class. They are sure, and is also confirmed by some inner party surveys, that Dalits and EBCs are shifting to INDIA.
They also point out that the factionalism and potent threat from some regional leaders from Bihar and Bengal will simply weaken the party. Centenary celebration has been planned keeping in view the effective intervention of RSS in these states. They have expressed apprehension that saffron brigade may lose its hold on Assam, affecting the organisational effectiveness of the party in east and north east. They argue that the new president will find it tough to face the challenges cropping up in the wake of assembly elections in Bihar and Bengal. To cope the challenges, the BJP has planned to carry out organizational changes, to replace half of the current national general secretaries and bring in younger leadership in critical positions. (IPA Service)
