Madan Das Devi: The ideologue who could impose RSS' will on BJP

The results of the 1998 Lok Sabha elections were out and BJP patriarch Atal Bihari Vajpayee was confident of crossing the halfway mark with his new and old NDA allies. While the talks with potential partners were on, Vajpayee who lost his 13-day government to a joint push by the opposition in 1996 had started giving the final touches to his council of ministers when a rickety white Ambassador car with a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh emissary reached his residence.

The man carrying the message from the RSS top brass was none other than Madan Das Devi, the joint general secretary, and the third in command to then RSS chief Rajju Bhaiyya. The message from the BJP’s ideological fount was clear and unequivocal: that the Sangh had vetoed the appointment of Jaswant Singh- a close friend of Vajpayee- as the finance minister of India.

Despite remonstrations, the former PM had to concede and instead give the ministry to Yashwant Sinha who was then the RSS’ poster boy on Swadeshi.

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Madan Das Devi was perhaps the last top RSS leader who could speak to the BJP leadership on equal terms without mincing words. A contemporary of the two BJP stalwarts- Vajpayee and Advani- Devi had the authority and the stature to impose Sangh’s will on key decision-making processes in BJP-led governments.

Devi, passed away at a Bengaluru hospital Monday morning at the age of 81 years. His death was mourned by top BJP leaders including Prime Minister Modi.

On issues that were ideologically close to the RSS, Madan Das Devi spoke his mind to the government in private and never in public. He had his share of disagreements with Vajpayee but enjoyed a very good rapport with LK Advani who was the one maneuvering the organisation during NDA-I.

A close associate of former deputy PM LK Advani once recounted how Devi who was the chief interlocutor between the RSS and Vajpayee government between 1998 to 2004 was very discreet in his interactions with the government.

“He would shun the limelight and preferred to take the back gate to Advani ji’s house whenever he had a message to convey”; said the associate.

To a large extent, it was Devi who build the coordination mechanism between the party-RSS mechanism

His successors like Suresh Soni continued the tradition but could never really stand up to the BJP which has over the years grown bigger than the ideological fount and is in firm control of the political executive and resources at hand.

Devi who hailed from Pune in Maharashtra also worked as the organizing secretary of the student’s wing of the RSS, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, and mentored many top RSS and BJP leaders including the current general secretary of the RSS Dattatreya Hosabale.

After taking ill because of old age, Devi asked the RSS to relieve him of his responsibilities but continued to travel around the country as much as his health would permit. In Delhi, Devi would stay in a commune on the 6th floor of Deendayal Upadhyay Research Institute- an RSS-affiliated b