Mohan Bhagwat seeks to widen tent, with a clear message – PM Modi’s turf secure | Political Pulse News

Some of the Muslim leaders present liked the notes the RSS chief struck on the first two days; on the third day, he answered questions which had been submitted by those in the audience. But Muslim leaders were hesitant to say more at this stage, for rhetoric was very different from reality.

But, for his part, the RSS chief did not shy away from fielding all manners of questions, even uncomfortable ones. Mohan Bhagwat is known to speak in a nuanced fashion, preferring messaging that is indirect. Like an anecdote he had recounted recently about the late RSS leader Moropant Pingle saying that those in public life should make way for others when they become 75; this set off immediate buzz as both Bhagwat and Prime Minister turn 75 next month, on September 11 and 16, respectively.

So, the one answer many of those at Vigyan Bhavan wanted was whether the RSS Sarsanghchalak would say something to nudge PM Modi to make way for someone else. Or whether he would step down himself so as to exert moral pressure on the PM to do likewise. Bhagwat chose to take the bull by the horns – he had never said he would retire or ask anyone else to retire, he said. Instead, he would continue till “I am 80” if the Sangh asked him to do so.

Bhagwat’s comments showed that the RSS has reached a working understanding with the BJP brass. It would entail supporting Modi’s leadership of the BJP in the 2029 elections. For all of the Sangh’s differences with the BJP leadership – and Bhagwat admitted these existed in the Sangh family – the RSS has never had it so good. Its writ runs in many sectors, with its people in educational institutions, or as Governors and Vice-Chancellors, and its core agendas have been implemented.

That is why few expected PM Modi to walk into the sunset, or Bhagwat to call it quits. This became evident earlier this month when the PM praised the RSS from the ramparts of the Red Fort on Independence Day.

Bhagwat said repeatedly that his job was to run “shakhas” and engage in “manav nirman (character building)”, and that the swayamsevaks trained at the shakhas ran different (front) organisations like the BJP. It was the BJP that had the expertise to run the State and take the necessary decisions as its leaders thought fit, with the Sangh giving its advice if asked, Bhagwat said.

The RSS chief then went on to endorse the BJP line on illegal immigrants, on the controversial Constitution 130th Amendment Bill moved by the government recently seeking that ministers, including chief ministers and the Prime Minister, resign if they have been in jail for 30 days, and saw no harm in communities not consuming meat on Hindu festivals as a goodwill gesture.

However, while he emphasised the BJP’s autonomy in decision-making, it is unlikely that the next president of the party would be decided without taking the Sangh’s views on board. Referring to the year-long delay in appointing the BJP President, Bhagwat quipped: “Hum taye karte toh itna samay lagta kya (If we had to decide, would it take this long)?” The BJP would probably say the same – that if it had to decide J P Nadda’s successor on its own, it might not have taken so long! Now, even as Union minister Shivraj Chouhan’s recent meeting with Bhagwat raised eyebrows, chances are that the new BJP chief will be appointed only after the crucial Bihar elections.

RSS Chief Dr Mohan Bhagwat speaks on the final day of the RSS centenary celebrations in New Delhi on Thursday. (Express Photo by Tashi Tobgyal)

Bhagwat went out of his way to say that the Sangh did not mean to leave out anyone when it talked about a Hindu Rashtra. He was also conciliatory about the neighbourhood, choosing not to refer to the plight of the minorities in Bangladesh or to the Pahalgam terror attack. As the largest country in the subcontinent, India, he said, must “contribute to their progress”. He urged Sangh workers (which was seen as a message to the Bajrang Dal) not to take law into their hands on matters and resort to violence, but to set right a situation by going to police.

Bhagwat has been seen as a moderate inside the Sangh – to the extent that such a distinction can be made. In the last couple of years he has held several meetings with eminent Muslim leaders in an attempt to engage with them. (From neither side has information leaked about these meetings.) It was he who urged Hindus not to look for “a Shivlinga under every masjid” after the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the Hindu side in the Ayodhya temple dispute. The Sangh would no longer lead an andolan like Ayodhya, with that being an exception, Bhagwat had said.

But RSS chief’s words on Thursday suggested a toughening of stand on the Kashi and Mathura disputes, even as he repeated his words about Shivlinga. Even as the Sangh would not get associated with any andolan, the Swayamsevaks were free, he said, to join any agitation for temples in Kashi and Mathura. He urged Muslims to give up their claim to the Gyanvapi Mosque site in Varanasi and the Eidgah in Mathura in the interest of creating goodwill and “brotherhood”.

Some saw this as a bid by Bhagwat to keep the Sangh’s core group intact and synthesise the pulls and pressures he has faced from the extreme Right within.

Those in the know said that the Sangh leadership may, in time, consider reaching out to the Muslim community to see if a resolution can be reached on Kashi and Mathura with such a gesture on their part. Efforts in this direction were also made in 1990, during the tenure of the late PM Chandra Shekhar, but these did not succeed, with political forces working at cross-purposes.

RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar’s emphasis when the Sangh was founded in 1925 was to consolidate the Hindus; his successor “Guruji” Madhav Sadashiv Golwakar tried to infuse spiritualism in the organisation; Balasaheb Deoras, who used to call himself an “agnostic”, tried to widen the ambit of the then Jana Sangh and ABVP by encouraging them to join hands with other forces in opposition to the then dominant Congress.

Bhagwat’s stewardship of the RSS has coincided with the BJP in power, first on its own, and now with allies, helmed by a powerful and popular Prime Minister – and this has had its own challenges.

Bhagwat’s words on Thursday showed that he now wants to mainstream the RSS, and dispel as he said, the “myths” about it. In sum, he is trying to make a stronger case for expanding the tent than the BJP has achieved. At the three-day lecture series, the RSS guests included academics, media, judges, bureaucrats, activists — and very few politicians. The attendees included those who do not agree with the RSS ideology—and Bhagwat repeatedly said there was a place for “mat bhed (differences of opinion)” but there should be no “man bhed (rancour in hearts)”.

Clearly, a more confident Sangh is planning a massive outreach to all sections of society – and it pays, internally and internationally, to be “reasonable”. But the acid test now for Mohan Bhagwat, whom historical forces have placed in a pivotal position, is how he translates his words of “inclusion” into reality, and makes India’s non-Hindus as secure as the Hindus.

(Neerja Chowdhury, Contributing Editor, The Indian Express, has covered the last 11 Lok Sabha elections. She is the author of ‘How Prime Ministers Decide’)