Mumbai, Feb 09: The two-day centenary conclave of the RSS, which concluded in Mumbai on Sunday, saw the RSS “sarsanghchalak” Dr Mohan Bhagwat (75) in complete charge of the situation. He made it loud and clear that the BJP was witnessing “acche din” (good times) because of the RSS and not the other way round.
Bhagwat’s growing influence
The observation is considerably significant, considering the fact that ever since Bhagwat took charge as the sixth “sarsanghchalak” in March 2009, the BJP’s fortunes have been on the rise. If the late “sarsanghchalak” Balasaheb Deoras recognised the potential of the Ramjanmabhoomi issue, it was Bhagwat who took the movement to its logical conclusion, resulting in the construction of a grand temple dedicated to Lord Ram at Ayodhya in place of the demolished Babri Masjid.
It was not without significance that Bhagwat was present along with Prime Minister Modi at the consecration of the temple, which was witnessed by millions of people.
The scrapping of Article 370, which gave a special status to Jammu and Kashmir, was also largely because of Bhagwat, who felt that the total integration of the state with the rest of India could not be achieved without the deletion of this controversial Article from the Constitution.
Electoral mobilisation and BJP’s rise
In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Bhagwat mobilised lakhs of RSS “karyakartas” to mobilise voters in favour of the BJP. The result was that the party secured a comfortable 282 seats, enabling Modi to become the Prime Minister. Confident of the support of the RSS, the BJP went on to win the next two general elections.
Today, it has politically decimated the principal opposition party, the Congress, and marginalised many of its rivals like the Shiv Sena (UBT). When Nishikant Dubey, BJP MP, ridiculed the RSS and claimed that the party would not be able to win even 150 seats in the 2029 Lok Sabha elections in July last year, the Sangh hit back silently and put Dubey in his place.
Much of the credit for the emergence of the BJP as the dominant player in Indian politics should go to Bhagwat, who has proved himself to be an uber-shrewd strategist relentlessly leading the Sangh Parivar towards its cherished goal of Hindu Rashtra.
Scriptural knowledge and simplicity
During his Mumbai interaction, he impressed many with his deep knowledge of the scriptures, his political sagacity and utter simplicity.
Future challenges for the Sangh
Now the real challenge before the RSS is to dethrone the state governments in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Many in the Sangh feel that the task of removing Mamata Banerjee from Writers’ Buildings appears to be doable.
It is felt that her removal is necessary not only to prevent the influx of refugees from Bangladesh, but also to eject illegal migrants who are already settled in India.
It is significant that Bhagwat last weekend appealed to people to identify illegal migrants and report them to the police.
Southern states and organisational push
The situation in Tamil Nadu and Kerala may appear to be an uphill task, but RSS cadres are working overtime in these two states and making the saffron forces acceptable. The level of awareness among Hindus in these two southern states is the highest ever now.
The first BJP government in the south was formed in Karnataka in 2008, but subsequently the Congress recaptured power. High on the BJP’s agenda is to work on the massive differences within the Congress in Karnataka and recapture power.
Role in policy and social outreach
Bhagwat also had a major role in the formulation of the New Education Policy (NEP), which seeks to decolonise much of the curricula in schools, colleges and institutions of higher learning. Because of the programme of “samajik samarasta” pursued by the RSS, the organisation has been able to make inroads into other backward castes, scheduled castes and tribes.
The thrust in the northeast too has yielded results, including the capture of power by the BJP in Assam.
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Leading the Sangh at 75
At 75, Bhagwat has demonstrated that he has the capacity to lead the massive movement represented by the Sangh Parivar without diluting its core Hindutva ideology, and almost to the near marginalisation of those who have been targeting it under the auspices of the Congress and the Left for decades.
“Today, Hindus need not chant the slogan ‘Garve se kaho hum Hindu hai’… they are already proud of their religion as never before post-1947,” a senior RSS functionary noted.
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