In A Twist...
- RSS, conservative and set in its habits, is now forced to deal with new members, new trends, new political dynamics
- There’s lack of communication between senior functionaries and grassroots workers
- Too much emphasis on expansion, not consolidation. Core activities are being ignored.
- Ideology is being compromised to keep BJP in power
- The Sangh now seems less assertive and more apologetic
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For the record, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) claims all is well and under control. Ten days after K.S. Sudarshan, a former sarsanghchalak, lashed out at Sonia Gandhi, calling her a CIA agent and accusing her of crimes even more preposterous, the Sangh’s office-bearers assert that “the issue is over and the embarrassment from Sudarshanji’s remarks long gone”. At the Sangh’s offices at Jhandewalan in Delhi, pracharaks also say the issue was blown out of proportion and that the RSS has made it clear that Sudarshan’s views aren’t the official view of the RSS. The BJP, too, has steered clear. Rajya Sabha MP and party spokesperson Tarun Vijay says, “Whatever political differences we have with her (Sonia Gandhi) must be addressed within an accepted, democratic framework and behaviour.”
While this position may go down well in Delhi, grassroots workers are disappointed at the Sangh’s handling of the issue. Murmurs about how the seniors abandoned Sudarshan are now being heard from pracharaks in the RSS’s smaller units in the states. In the Sangh stronghold of Madhya Pradesh, there is disappointment. One Sangh leader says, “We feel let down. The cadre is demoralised. If the Sangh and the central leadership of the BJP can abandon someone like Sudarshanji, what about us?”
The RSS top brass believes the issue will be forgotten. Perhaps, it will be. But insiders say the Sangh is going through a churning, and a crisis of sorts, that goes beyond the Sudarshan incident. “The RSS is an old organisation, but it has new people now. And new people have brought in new trends. The core ideology of the Sangh has been forgotten. Such problems are bound to happen,” says Prof Balraj Madhok, a veteran Jan Sanghi. “I am surprised at the Sangh’s response to Sudarshanji’s remarks. Had it been the RSS of the old times, things would have been dealt with differently.”
Storm Boys Indresh Kumar, facing terror charges; Yediyurappa, swamped by scams
Senior leaders believe that changing times and changing political dynamics are causing a degree of turmoil both in the parivar and the BJP. “The stakes are too high,” says one leader. “The RSS is under compulsion to keep the atmosphere stable for the BJP. That is where the dilution has crept in. Sangh leaders today are unsure how much to intervene and where to keep a distance when it comes to political matters.” That’s perhaps why the Sangh’s political arm, the BJP, ends up drumming its own drill. Even though only five months ago, the RSS, in its annual coordination meeting with the BJP leadership, had come down heavily on the party for “lack of mutual communication...and not being an effective opposition”, little has changed. The RSS had also conveyed its resentment over the “dilution of the BJP’s core ideology in the functioning of the party” to senior party leaders like L.K. Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Nitin Gadkari, Rajnath Singh and Murli Manohar Joshi, who had attended the eight-hour meeting in June. The BJP was also told that senior leaders must resolve differences amicably and the leadership must speak in one voice.
According to RSS insiders, the BJP has done little in the recent past to rein in its leaders in Karnataka on the corruption issue in the state. The problem stems from the need to hold on to power, which is why Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa continues in power despite the Reddy brothers and their mining scams or the land-grabbing by several BJP leaders, including the chief minister’s kith and kin. The RSS has voiced its protests—but in token fashion. The Sangh has to constantly keep in mind that the BJP needs to stay in power in the state. This is the reason many in the RSS are fast learning to ignore the prevalent evils in the BJP. “There was a time when corruption was unacceptable,” says a source. “Now, workers are told we need to take people along. The RSS is caught in its own trap. In its desire to expand and increase the number of shakhas, it has forgotten to consolidate its base.”
Discomforting situations like the one in Karnataka have now cropped up in party-governed states like Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh as well. “Where ideology and the nationalist agenda came first, now personal whims and fancies are taking centrestage. Look at Madhya Pradesh. How do you explain the rise of Prabhat Jha to state party president?” asks a Sangh leader. Jha’s rise to power is attributed to his proximity to RSS joint general secretary Suresh Soni.
A former RSS ideologue puts it this way: “Call it the Congressification of the RSS. The emphasis is on power. The cadre is directionless. In states where the BJP is in power, this emphasis on motivation more than ability is more pronounced. So even if there are problems with a certain individual, the RSS chooses to ignore it, taking comfort from the fact that at least it is their own person, and therefore, accessible. The result is there for everyone to see. What is worse is that there is confusion about the basic ideology of the RSS. All RSS-affiliated organisations are not sure what they need to follow.”
Because of the BJP’s compulsions to remain in power, the RSS is forced to be pragmatic and in many ways keep political opportunities in mind. Perhaps that’s why Mohan Bhagwat, the sarsanghchalak, decided to lead protests against the Congress campaign against “Hindu terror”. Old-timers like Madhok see it as “inappropriate and unnecessary”. “The RSS chief could have done better,” he says. “Why should he take to the streets? It does not behove well of the office he holds.” In fact, the involvement of senior RSS functionaries like Indresh Kumar in terror attacks has divided the Sangh: one section feels it has to defend such leaders; the other feels it must distance itself from such persons.
In the middle of all this, the RSS is reduced to becoming an administrative network. “When an organisation gets into administrative work, it loses its direction,” says a functionary. “That’s what is happening to the RSS. Even senior leaders don’t believe in active communication. Everything is left to pre-scheduled meetings, decided at the beginning of the year. Complaints from grassroots workers don’t find redressal; core activities are being ignored. Unless the RSS fixes that, nothing will change.”
While course correction on this count is possible, it’s another malaise that insiders say is corroding the organisation. “Increasingly, the Sangh has become apologetic about its conduct, not assertive,” says a functionary. “This makes it follow the agenda set by the BJP. And that will be its undoing....”
