A much-needed dressing down

Bhagwat’s criticism of Modi, BJP conduct is significant

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s comments at a meeting of the organisation this week should be taken as a criticism of the conduct of BJP leaders and the functioning of the party in the context of the elections as well as outside that context. They have been interpreted as applicable to all political workers and public persons but there is no mistaking that the references are specific to the BJP and to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Though the RSS considers itself to be above politics, the BJP is its front organisation in politics and it has provided it ideological basis and, often, organisational support. Bhagwat’s comments are the first internal analysis of the BJP’s conduct and performance made public. It is known that there have been differences between the RSS and the BJP, as seen from party president J P Nadda’s recent remark that the party is no longer dependent on the RSS. 

There cannot be many interpretations when Bhagwat says a true sevak does not have ahankar (ego/arrogance) and works without causing any hurt to others. The tenet “a true sevak maintains decorum…The one who maintains decorum and does his work, but remains unattached, only such a person is sevak’’ has the ring of the Gita but could only be considered targeted wisdom. Prime Minister Modi has called himself the country’s Pradhan Sevak. There were many instances of Modi and other leaders violating decorum during the BJP’s campaign, which was Modi-centred and there was much arrogance on display. The statement that the Opposition is not to be treated as an enemy and the emphasis on the need for consensus should be seen in the light of the arrogant calls for a “Congress-mukt Bharat” and the confrontational politics practised by the BJP under Modi. The statement that leaders made speeches without regard to how they could divide society were meant to convey even the RSS’ disgust at the low-level communal campaign that Modi himself indulged in. Bhagwat’s words on Manipur that the state had been waiting for peace for over a year amounted to a clear indictment of the government’s handling of the situation there. 

Though Bhagwat’s comments may be applicable to all, they are specially relevant to the BJP. He did not mention names but these ideas have been fleshed out and the BJP has been named in articles appearing in RSS publications. One article said that BJP leaders and workers were overconfident and were “happy in their bubble”. It also dissociated the RSS from the BJP’s electoral setback by stating that the party had not reached out to the RSS for help in the elections. The RSS has criticised the BJP in the past also in times of the party’s weakness and failure. It is also known that the organisation was never comfortable with individual leaders considering themselves above it. What Bhagwat said has been said before and by others. The significance of his comments is that he, as RSS chief, has made them.