As RSS Reaches Its 100th Year, It Faces a Self-Inflicted Crisis

(This article is taken from The Wire)

By Soroor Ahmed

Never before has any Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief or his trusted lieutenant questioned the behaviour of a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime minister in the manner in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi was pulled up, days after he led the National Democratic Alliance to victory.

All this happened when the person in question, himself former pracharak, had fulfilled almost all of his ideological goals – the de-operationalisation of Article 370, the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya, the enactment of the Triple Talaq law, the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and National Register of Citizens – in addition to taking an ultra-nationalistic stance and championing the Zionist cause.

In the past, RSS Chief K.S. Sudarshan (2000-2009) had some differences over strategic and policy matters with former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his deputy Lal Krishna Advani. However, they were never publicly criticised in the same manner as Modi, particularly for his speeches and arrogance. Ironically, these were the very ‘qualities’ for which Vajpayee was praised within the Sangh parivar.

This is in spite of the fact that Modi is leading a much more powerful BJP government than Vajpayee ever did. The maximum number of seats the BJP won in 1998 and 1999 Lok Sabha elections were 182 – 51 short of the BJP’s current tally.

Modi banished from Gujarat

Why, then, are the RSS bigwigs openly chiding the man who was their darling until June 4? In truth, Modi is a mediocre BJP leader when compared to Vajpayee and Advani in their young days. Vajpayee became MP for the first time in 1957, when he was only 32 years old. In fact, these two stalwarts made enormous contributions to make RSS, Jan Sangh and subsequently the BJP, a big fighting political force.

In contrast, Modi grew in stature much later in his life. As strange as it may sound, Modi was even banished by his own Sangh parivar from entering Gujarat for six years, between 1995 and 2001, due to infighting between Shankarsinh Vaghela and Keshubhai Patel factions of the party.

A few months after the devastating Bhuj earthquake in 2001, the party made Modi the chief minister.

Whether it was the 2002 Gujarat communal riots, the subsequent assembly election that same year, or the elections in 2007 and 2012, leading up to his elevation as the prime ministerial candidate in 2013, it was the RSS and the same capitalist class that nurtured and promoted Modi. The Sangh abandoned old guard and Modi’s mentors Keshubhai Patel and Vishwa Hindu Parishad supremo Dr. Pravin Togadia, the man who greatly helped him at the time of his banishment from Gujarat.

It would be inaccurate to say that Modi strengthened BJP and RSS; rather, the Sangh made Modi powerful and dictatorial.

So, where is the scope for regret? What would have happened if Bhagwat and Kumar had remained silent or conveyed their displeasure to Modi in private? Is it that the duo has been forced in the corner to speak out so vociferously?

Pandora’s box

The two gentlemen have opened a Pandora’s box and their statements are likely to have serious implications. By dissociating themselves from Modi’s arrogant approach and campaign style, Bhagwat and Kumar appear to have prepared themselves for the final showdown with Modi, going as far as to open the Manipur wound.

Instead of doing it himself, Bhagwat could have used a lower-level Sangh functionary to take a potshot at Modi. But he decided to take the bull by its horns. The RSS leaders’ statements have come at the time when Modi and company were re-gaining confidence and feeling cheerful after roping in Telugu Desam Party and Janata Dal (United).

This latest development is likely to have an impact on Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand, Delhi and Bihar, which are going to hold assembly elections soon. In all these states, the BJP will be facing strong opponents.

The turmoil within the Sangh Parivar has certainly made Modi appear much weaker than he did on June 4, when the results finally came out.

The RSS has found itself in a dark alley, searching for light at a time when everything should have been bright. The Sangh was looking forward to celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2025, with the man they raised and groomed forming a government for the third term in a row. But suddenly, things have gone haywire.

The admonishment by Bhagwat and Kumar has inadvertently vindicated what Congress party’s Rahul Gandhi and other secular leaders of Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance have been saying about Modi. This will prove to be a serious setback to ‘brand Modi’, who has mastered the art of promoting himself as a cult figure.

The 74-year-old prime minister is not a child who needs tongue-lashing so that he falls in line. He may hit back. The immediate losers will no doubt be the RSS and BJP. But it must be noted that all of this is happening within five months of consecration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

Soroor Ahmed is a Patna-based freelance journalist.