Now there will definitely be interference, will Modi-Shah’s BJP be able to tolerate the ‘willfulness’ of the RSS?

Is there tension in the relationship between RSS and BJP? After the Lok Sabha election results, the first article by Ratan Sharda appeared in the RSS-affiliated magazine Organiser. It has clear messages for BJP. The hints of these messages were still being discussed when the statements of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat clarified the situation to a great extent. Then the head of RSS’s Muslim wing Rashtriya Muslim Manch, Indresh Kumar, took this discussion to the next level. He made such a strong sarcasm that he had to give clarification the very next day. Whether it is RSS-affiliated thinker Ratan Sharda or RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat or Rashtriya Muslim Manch’s guide Indresh Kumar, there is a common feeling in everyone’s comments – arrogance. Everyone has tried to tell and express in some way or the other that the arrogance of the BJP leadership is the most responsible for the setback in the Lok Sabha elections. The rest of the RSS chief gave many kinds of suggestions. He also said that in politics there are not opponents (enemies) but opponents (competitors). So the next question that arises is whether RSS can take any big decision regarding the BJP leadership? RSS-BJP relations have soured, but…

Senior journalist Neerja Chaudhary is looking for answers to these questions in an article published in the English newspaper The Indian Express. In her article, she has confirmed the tussle between RSS and BJP and explained what it means. She says that BJP President JP Nadda had said something that hurt RSS in an interview given to Indian Express during the elections. Nadda had said that BJP is standing on its own feet and does not need RSS. RSS also did not miss to answer this. It said that BJP should never make the mistake of considering RSS as its field force. So there is no doubt that the Lok Sabha election results have brought some sourness in the relationship between RSS and BJP. But what should both of them do in future?

This is Rahul’s Congress, not Indira’s

Neerja Chaudhary says that RSS may be angry with the attitude of BJP leadership, but it knows very well that this leadership has fulfilled its years old agendas. It also knows that this is not the Congress of Indira’s era, for which BJP can be taught a lesson in the short term by playing a gamble. It is a different matter that RSS chief Bhagwat has given a message to the Congress by calling the opposition a competitor, but he also knows which direction Rahul Gandhi’s Congress has taken. RSS considered Indira Gandhi a Hindu leader. Because of this, RSS helped ensure Indira Gandhi’s victory in the 1980 elections. After Indira’s assassination in 1984, Rajiv Gandhi also continued to get RSS support. But the Congress of 2024 is completely different from the 1970-80 decade. Rahul Gandhi has adopted an extreme leftist ideology and under his indirect leadership, Congress can never even think of Hindu interests.

What is RSS’s complaint with BJP?

Anyway, RSS is not so upset with the current BJP leadership that it considers looking for an alternative. If senior journalist Neerja Chaudhary is to be believed, it only wants the BJP leadership to move away from the policy of ‘Ekla Chalo Re’ and take everyone (opposition also) along on big issues. RSS wants to increase the stake of powerful leaders in BJP, which has proved incapable of forming a government on its own, which has been gradually decreasing in the last 10 years. RSS cannot forget that whether it is the abrogation of Article 370 applicable to Jammu and Kashmir or the matter of resolving the centuries-old dispute by building a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya, it is the BJP led by Modi-Shah that has fulfilled the basic agendas of the Sangh. Before the elections, the Modi government had also made its position clear on the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) that serious steps will be taken towards its implementation in the next government.

Is this all that RSS wants from BJP?

Despite all this, the biggest complaint that RSS has with BJP is that the party’s organization has become a ‘yes man’ who agrees with the government. Therefore, on top of the RSS’s reform agenda is that the BJP organization should be separated from the Modi government. The organization should take its own decisions, not on the instructions of the government. Yes, coordination of the organization with the government is absolutely necessary and this will definitely be taken care of. Anyway, JP Nadda’s tenure will end this month. On the other hand, RSS wants to spread the aura of Yogi Adityanath outside Uttar Pradesh. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s closed-door meetings with UP CM Yogi Adityanath were probably in this direction. On the other hand, the meetings of RSS leaders like Dattatreya Hosabale, Arun Kumar, Suresh Soni with BJP leaders like BL Santosh, JP Nadda, Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh also have their own importance.

Will Modi accept RSS interference?

What would BJP and Modi be thinking about these intentions of RSS? The Lok Sabha election results have given a big blow to the image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. PM Modi will have to prove in the next elections that his power to perform miracles has not ended. This year the assembly elections of Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Haryana and next year the assembly elections of Delhi and Bihar will give PM Modi a very good opportunity to prove his strength. For this purpose Modi will need the support of RSS. In the Lok Sabha elections, RSS withdrew from many states and many areas and BJP has been reduced to 240. Modi will not want to do anything in the upcoming assembly elections that will make RSS adopt a wait and watch attitude again.