Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday heaped praise on RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat in an article published across leading national dailies. This came less than a month after Modi praised the organisation for its “service to the nation” in his Independence Day speech. In between, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said in an interview that being associated with the RSS was not a “minus point”.
The statements underscore what appears to be the BJP’s effort to publicly embrace its ideological parent after reports of visible strain last year during and after the Lok Sabha elections. The PM’s article timed on Bhagwat’s birthday marks the latest in a series of gestures suggesting a reset in the BJP-RSS dynamic.
The friction
Over a year ago, BJP president J P Nadda told The Indian Express in an interview that the party no longer depended on the RSS’s organisational strength, triggering disquiet within the Sangh and inviting questions about the evolving balance between the two organisations.
There was speculation that this had demoralised the cadre, leading to their participation in the 2024 Lok Sabha campaign being less enthusiastic. The BJP returned to power with a reduced majority, forced to depend on allies Telugu Desam Party and Janata Dal (United) in the coalition government.
Weeks after the results, Bhagwat said in a public address, “A true sevak (servant) maintains decorum while working … The one who maintains decorum does his work, but remains unattached. There is no arrogance that I did this. Only such a person has the right to be called a sevak.”
The statement was seen as a message to the BJP leadership, which was learnt to have made internal efforts at rapprochement. The BJP’s victories in the subsequent Maharashtra and Haryana Assembly elections on the back of organisation-backed poll management suggested the relations had smoothened.
RSS publicity in-charge Sunil Ambekar, in a subsequent press conference, brushed aside suggestions of turbulence in the relationship between the Sangh and the ruling party, calling it a “family affair”. Bhagwat too recently said in the opening lecture of a lecture series last month that the Sangh prepares swayamsevaks (its cadre) who gradually become independent and self-sufficient.
Yet, with the BJP president elections in a limbo for months, and the RSS chief suggesting in the lecture series that the Sangh would not have taken so long to make a decision, some rough edges remain. That is why the BJP leadership’s conspicuous acknowledgement of the Sangh’s role in recent weeks is noteworthy.
Emphasising the bond
In his Independence Day address, for the first time in 11 years, Modi heaped praise on the RSS from the ramparts of the Red Fort.
“Its hundred years of service to the nation have been a very proud and glorious page (in history). With the resolve of ‘vyakti nirman (character development)’ and ‘rashtra nirman (nation building)’, countless swayamsevaks have dedicated their lives to the welfare of ‘matrubhoomi’ (motherland)’ for the last 100 years. Service, dedication, organisation and unparalleled discipline have been its hallmark… The RSS is in a way the biggest NGO in the world,” the PM said.
Among the first to post this portion of the PM’s speech on social media was Nadda, who also wrote, “Today, from the ramparts of the Red Fort …By mentioning RSS’s 100-year prosperous journey, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tributes to the volunteers dedicated to the service of Mother India.”
Calling it the largest cultural organisation in the world, Nadda said, “With the motto of ‘Service, Dedication, and Discipline,’ millions of volunteers are working towards ‘uplifting society for the upliftment of the nation.”
Earlier, on July 30, Amit Shah attacked the Congress for linking the RSS to the 26/11 attacks, saying in Parliament, “Hindu aatankwadi nahi hota (Hindus cannot be terrorists).”
On August 22, at the Manorama News Conclave in Kochi, Shah said, “I come from the BJP, I am a swayamsevak of the RSS, and until India becomes great, we do not have the right to rest.”
Four days later, asked whether the NDA’s Vice-President candidate C P Radhakrishnan had been chosen for his RSS connections, Shah told ANI, “Many people have… PM himself is connected to the RSS… I am… Is being connected to the RSS a minus point? … Not at all.”
The statements suggest that the BJP is keen to reaffirm its rootedness in the Sangh Parivar even as it charts its own political expansion.
“There has been some unnecessary friction due to misinterpretation of certain statements. You have to understand that the RSS and the BJP are not different. We have the same goal. Nothing can separate us. The leadership is only underlining this. And recent statements will help this message reach the grassroots party and Sangh workers,” said a senior BJP leader.
An RSS leader, too, emphasised that all was well within the larger family. “Frictions happen. As they happen in every family. Sangh does not direct the BJP. But yes, we do warn them if we see things deviating from core principles. Satta ka ek charitra hota hai. Woh kabhi kabhi logo ko samvedanheen aur samwadheen bana deta hai. Jab aisa hota dikhta hai, toh hum bolte hain (Power has its own character. Sometimes, it makes people insensitive and incapable of dialogue. When we see this, we speak up). We believe the individual is the needle and the thread is the ideology. Without the thread, the needle will only keep making holes in the cloth,” he said.