NEW DELHI: After months of what was viewed in national political circles as a cold war with its political affiliate, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh this week declared a truce with the ruling BJP.
None other than Mohan Bhagwat, the Sangh supremo, took it upon himself to make a rare public statement stressing all was well in the Sangh parivar. Bhagwat scotched talks of Modi or himself retiring upon turning 75 this month and clarified that the RSS had no quarrel with the government though there may arise certain contradictions around policies which, he said, the Sangh was capable of reconciling.
Bhagwat drew a distinction between “matbhed (difference of opinion) and manbhed (difference of hearts) and said “The RSS and swayamsewaks share an unbreakable bond and their glue is love for the motherland.’
That said, it’s the timing of Bhagwat’s remarks that continues to draw attention. These come in the backdrop of three developments – Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s generous praises for the RSS from the ramparts of the Red Fort on August 15; commencement of US President Donald Trump’s 50% reciprocal tariffs against India from August 27 and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s ongoing “Vote Adhikar Yatra” against electoral roll revision by the Election Commission in poll-bound Bihar.
A lingering perception of strain between the RSS and its most powerful affiliate at a time of rising global and domestic headwinds was seen as damaging. A course correction was warranted.
That explains why Bhagwat made his – “Who said I or someone else should retire” – remark from a public platform even after Sangh parivar leaders had for the longest time refused to acknowledge on record that something between the RSS and the BJP was off.
Insiders locate Bhagwat’s uncharacteristic public remarks on the Sangh-BJP ties as rooted in realpolitik and the need for RSS cadres to project unity in tough times.
Everyone in the saffron brotherhood realises the vulnerabilities of a fragile coalition government at the Centre and the need to keep allies in good humour while projecting an image of cohesion within.
It is in this context that the attendance of senior NDA leaders at Mohan Bhagwat’s three-day lecture series in the Capital to mark the RSS’ upcoming centenary becomes important.
From the TDP, Shiv Sena and LJP to JDU, Apna Dal and others, NDA partners in the ruling coalition were well represented at the Bhagwat event where 2,000 guests from Delhi and adjoining areas were invited.
Besides striking a conciliatory note with the BJP, Bhagwat made few other significant points as he, for the first time in Sangh’s 100-year journey, fielded civic society’s questions from the stage. Some 200 questions on topics ranging from Hindutva, infiltration and temple-mosque disputes to demography, Hindu-Muslim question and education were taken.
While declaring the RSS’ belief of “Hindustan being a Hindu Rashtra as a non-negotiable”, Bhagwat defined Hindus as people who considered themselves part of India’s shared consciousness irrespective of faith. Hindutva is not anti-Islam, he asserted asking Indian Muslims and Christians to awaken to common ancestry.
Batting for national unity and a “one nation-one people” frame, Bhagwat also voiced ideological firmness by supporting the Hindu side’s claim on Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi and Shahi Idgah in Mathura, both currently in Muslim possession and by going on to ask the minority to cede their rights as a gesture of brotherhood.
Coupled with his “infiltrators must be stopped and Indians should have three children and no more” line, Bhagwat further delivered to the Sangh cadres a clear and unambiguous message that the Hindu unity project must go on. In the process, he invited Muslims, Christians and others nursing suspicions about RSS’ intent to come and see how it works.
“Either come and visit for yourself or abandon this manufactured (anti-RSS) narrative,” said Bhagwat urging the Indian minorities to assimilate in the Hindu Rashtra.
The broad underlying message from the Sangh chief’s dialogue with top influencers was one of “full organisation of Hindu society” in the centenary year, with goals to reach every corner of India and inspire RSS-like organisations in other countries of the world.
Insiders say Bhagwat’s emphasis on Hindutva, Hindu Rashtra and all Indians having the same DNA, stems from RSS’ foundational pledge to “the unification of Hindu society” and its constant urge to nurture the ideological roots come what may.
Bhagwat’s comments on Mathura and Kashi fit in this context. While announcing that the RSS won’t participate in these movements as it did in the Ram Mandir, he added that Swayamsevaks were free to take part and Hindus were going to insist for these sites as a matter of faith.
Insiders read Bhagwat’s stress on core ideological issues as a direction for the future and a message to cadres that Hindutva and Hindu Rashtra remained the organisation’s core agenda.
Sangh old-timers say this messaging was important with the BJP government in its third term now and anti-incumbency an emerging threat.
They recalled how in the 2004 General elections, the incumbent BJP lost big having side stepped issues of ideology such as Ram Mandir and Article 370 to focus solely on India’s economic growth under the banner of “India rising.”
The 2004 “Bharat Uday Yatra” of LK Advani lacked emphasis on RSS’ principal agenda of Ayodhya and Kashmir.
The Atal Bihari Vajpayee-LK Advani duo lost that election which was called ahead of schedule and the RSS framed the defeat in terms of disenchantment of core support base due to perceived ideological dilution. Bhagwat’s stress on Hindutva and Hindu Rashtra this week was a reminder to Sangh parivar to stay with the basics.