By Arun Srivastava
Narendra Modi’s appreciation for Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and eulogising it as the organisation which has been genuinely concerned for the welfare of the country, in his Independence Day speech from the Red Fort, was purely an act of self- protection from RSS anger and an olive branch to the RSS supremo Mohan Bhagwat.
As usual he resorted to trickery, this time not only to fool the people of country, but also to the chief of RSS, Mohan Bhagwat, who has been having a strained relation with Modi and seeking curbs of his powers as prime minister for more than a year. Modi certainly would not have resorted to this technique, if the Supreme Court had not directed the CEC Gyanesh Kumar to make public details of the 65 lakh voters whose names were deleted from the voter list.
The apex court order has been spine chilling for Modi as he has come to realise that he cannot depend on Gyanesh and his ECI to ensure his continuing in power till he desired. In this hour of crisis, the only alleviator would be Bhagwat. Obviously he resorted to game of praise. The compulsion for survival has been so acute that Modi, who did not bother to praise RSS in public used the celebration of Independence Day to enter into the good book of Bhagwat. But unfortunately his act has turned him suspect in the eye of the BJP workers and leaders, who till yesterday nursed the impression that Modi was indomitable and will continue in power till 2029 elections on his own.
The importance of the message could be gauged from the fact that out of 103 minutes of his speech, Modi devoted nearly 43 minutes to RSS role in shaping the fortune of India.
He eulogised RSS even after being aware that people are conscious of the fact that RSS did not play any role in the Independence struggle and stayed away from mass protests like the Civil Disobedience Movement and Quit India Movement. It supported the Britishers. Actually, attempts are being made even by the BJP leaders to decode Modi’s praise for RSS.
It is significant to watch that Modi praised RSS on Independence Day to bring which RSS played no role.. While he tried to project RSS as the most important organisation in the world, he also conceded that it has immense control and ideological influence on the BJP. His invoking RSS in his Independence Day address has wider implication and relevance. For last couple of years the RSS-BJP have been having severe strained relationship. By hailing the RSS, as the supreme ideological fountainhead, Modi has tried to project himself as the obedient Swayamsevak of RSS.
It is an open secret that top RSS leaders, were quite annoyed with the remark of the BJP president J P Nadda that BJP now no more needs RSS, it can perform on its own. Modi’s August 15 observation has however been an attempt to deflate Nadda’s remark and pledge his loyalty to Bhagwat. Modi through his reiteration has reinforced the RSS’s centrality to the BJP’s ideological functioning. His observation “the nation is built not just by the government or those in power”, is also quite significant. Bhagwat has been consistently rebuking the concept of superiority of individual and BJP’s separate identity.
Modi also accomplished the task of bringing the role of the RSS in nation-building in public domain, which RSS leadership undoubtedly could not achieve over these years, through his Independence Day address. Various conjectures are being made by the experts. While they view Bhagwat’s silence, not reiterating his demand for retirement on completion of 75 years of age, for last one month as a positive move, they are also circumspect of Modi promising to bring about basic changes within ten years: “In the next 10 years, by 2035, I want to expand, strengthen and modernise this national security shield. Drawing inspiration from Lord Shri Krishna, we have chosen the path of Sudarshan Chakra.”
This simply reinforces the notion that Modi was seeking ten years more to remain in power from the RSS. He knows that with RSS determined to remove him from power, nobody could help him continue in power. Some BJP leaders view this statement of Modi as begging favour from Bhagwat for continuing in office.
Modi was also trying to demonstrate his indispensability by announcing creation of a formidable military capability to defend India’s military and civilian installations against aerial attacks and set a 10-year deadline for developing an indigenous air defence shield integrated with offensive weapons under Mission Sudarshan Chakra. By saying; “The country will launch Mission Sudarshan Chakra. It will be a powerful weapon system that will not only neutralise the enemy’s attack but also hit back with overwhelming force,” Modi was in fact trying to project threat to the national security as a major issue.
Though Modi touched upon the changing nature of warfare and the need to protect the country and its citizens, he did not spell out the source of potential threat, whether it was the old enemy Pakistan or some other Asian country. Instead of assuring the people of working for peace, he tried to terrorise them with the threat of a possible war. He said; “This security shield will be continuously expanded. Every citizen must feel safe. No matter what technology is used to attack us; our technology must prove better than that. I pledge to take this mission forward”. He showcased Operation Sindoor as the proof of India’s technological prowess
There is no doubt that Modi by praising RSS was desperately trying to block the plan for his own retirement on Sept 17, 2025. His counting RSS gains was simply rhetoric in nature. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh rightly pointed out: “Decisively weakened after the events of June 4th, 2024, he is now at their complete mercy and reliant on Mohan Bhagwat’s good offices for the extension of his tenure post-September. This politicisation of Independence Day for personal and organisational gain is deeply corrosive to our democratic ethos,”
Modi’s speech at Red Fort sent an explicit message that he was standing on a sticky wicket and desperately needed the support of RSS to survive. His fear of losing the power was perceptible in his non-conformist speech. Ramesh was politically correct in saying; “PM’s speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort today was stale, hypocritical, insipid, and troubling”. His desperation was also manifest in his assurance to provide 3.5 crore jobs notwithstanding he has miserably failed to provide 2 crore job made in 2014.
Yet another agenda of RSS; weeding out foreign nationals found a special reference in his speech. Modi has announced a demographic mission to protect the country from the dangers posed by illegal immigrants. Speaking on the occasion of the 79th Independence Day, he alerted the citizens to a conspiracy to change the country’s demography. This will not be tolerated, he asserted while addressing the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort this morning.
“I would like to alert the nation about a concern, a challenge. Under a well-thought-out conspiracy, the country’s demography is being changed, and seeds of a new crisis are being sown. These infiltrators are snatching the livelihood of the youth of my country. They are targeting our sisters and daughters. They are misleading the adivasis and grabbing their lands. This will not be tolerated,” said PM Modi.
Modi and his lieutenant Amit Shah for long have been fanning this RSS agenda, but Modi has preferred to raise the pitch in his today’s speech. This is simply to gratify the RSS that Modi has been making “Infiltrators New Target” a major political agenda ahead of assembly elections in Bihar and Bengal. According to him, the infiltration of foreign nationals has endangered the identity of India. It is posing a threat to national security. Nevertheless experts question this assertion of Modi and seek clarification: how could the illegal migrants enter India when the BJP Chanakya Amit Shah was the home minister and wields immense control on the security agencies.
Sagarika Ghosh, TMC Rajya Sabha member rightly observed; “As usual Modi uses his Independence Day speech to target a new “enemy.” After Andolanjeevis etc now “infiltrators” is the new target. Again new “missions” announced while targeting past governments. When will Modi give a 15 August address truthfully addressing his own record of 11 years marked by over – promising and under -achieving”. (IPA Service)
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