Modi, Bhagwat, RSS, BJP — A recasting of equations

The inclusion of Mohan Bhagwat must be seen as a gesture by the Prime Minister to assure the Sarsanghchalak that he and the organisation remain important, and he shall not allow public respect for them to diminish.

The presence of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat alongside Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the consecration ceremony of the new Ram Lalla idol, rechristened Balak Ram, indicates the organisation’s rising importance in India, even as the power equation between the RSS and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the one hand, and between Bhagwat and Modi on the other, has undergone an unobtrusive recasting.

The ceremony in Ayodhya was undeniably an epochal event. It was officially hosted by the Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust with substantial involvement of the Union and Uttar Pradesh governments. From its establishment by the Centre in February 2020 under the Supreme Court’s direction in its Ayodhya verdict, the trust neither chose to be politically inclusive nor did it seek non-partisan participation in events, or when drawing plans for constructing the temple.

Since then, it remained an enterprise of the Sangh parivar with close involvement of the government, especially the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), with Nripendra Mishra, Modi’s Principal Secretary from June 2014 to August 2019, being convener of the trust’s crucial construction committee. This belies claims of Hindutva votaries, including Modi, that the temple was a ‘national’ endeavour.

When the programme for the Pran Prathista was drawn up, Modi was obviously the first invitee to perform the rituals on January 22. But of the three other invitees, two who made up the quartet, Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, were invited because of constitutional positions.

Bhagwat, on the contrary, was granted this honour because of heading the RSS, for decades the ideological fountainhead of the Sangh parivar. He was also one of those seated in the ring around the site when Modi acted as yajman for the Bhoomi Pujan ceremony on August 5, 2020. Patel and Adityanath then too, were the other invitees from outside the trust. The invitation to Bhagwat in 2020 also, was based on him being a political associate of the government. There is little doubt that this was an act of impropriety for two reasons.

One, the RSS is officially not a registered organisation although its affiliated organisations are. Two, as per the convention followed within the Sangh parivar, the Sarsanghchalak is senior to Swayamsevaks or Pracharaks whenever they appear together on a public platform. Therefore, his appearance at both the aforementioned events, along with Modi, Patel, and Adityanath would have undermined the dignity of their constitutional posts because they were ‘junior’ within the Sangh parivar.

In this context, it is worth recalling Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s revelatory statement in Long Island, United States in the late 1990s when he declared during an official visit as Prime Minister: “Once a Swayamsevak, always a Swayamsevak.”

While for the Bhoomi Pujan ceremony no Opposition leader was invited, several were for the consecration ceremony. But, they were not asked to be part of the rituals. Instead, they were invited as other guests. This rendered both events virtual Sangh parivar shows in entirety.

Bhagwat’s participation is deeply problematic because the RSS has been banned on three occasions in Independent India — including in 1992 after the demolition of the Babri masjid, at the site where the temple has been built. The ban in 1992 was as a consequence of its role in demolishing the sixteenth century mosque and in the communal violence across India that erupted thereafter.

The ban was overturned by the Allahabad High Court. But, the Justice M S Liberhan Commission report concluded that the Sangh parivar was responsible for the demolition, with the involvement of hardliners, as well as, what he termed ‘pseudo-moderates’. In this backdrop, Bhagwat being a virtually extra-constitutional invitee to ceremonies at the site where the Babri masjid was demolished, under the watch of the organisation which he heads, is a little bit of a travesty.

On a crucial matter like this, Modi’s nod would have been taken before the list of chief guests was drawn. The inclusion of Bhagwat must be seen as a gesture by Modi to assure the Sarsanghchalak that he and the organisation remain important, and he shall not allow public respect for them to diminish.

Since coming to power in 2014, Modi has somewhat undermined the ‘Big Brother’ role of the RSS within the Sangh parivar. Bhagwat has accepted this ‘demotion’ because Modi remains faithful to core ideological premises of the saffron fraternity. Furthermore, the Prime Minister ensured that people drawn from the RSS affiliates or its sympathisers were appointed to official positions in key institutions to further its ideology and policies.

The RSS, which previously acted as a moral compass within the cluster of affiliates, dialled down the influence it exerted over the BJP, especially its executive wing. Bhagwat has ceded ground because of Modi’s popularity, and since there is no one else with the same capacity to win voters’ confidence. As a result, the relationship between the Sangh and the government is not strained as it was during Vajpayee’s tenure.

Modi, however, ensured that his altered equation with Bhagwat is not overtly evident. The RSS chief’s acceptance of the secondary position is evident on several occasions, as in his short speech after the consecration ritual, in which he lavished praises on Modi.

Leaders of the RSS are conditioned to think beyond their tenure and the organisation is placed ahead of the vyakti (individual). In contrast, strong personalities look primarily at their tenure, besides the legacy and imprint they leave behind. Evidently, the RSS and Bhagwat accept a secondary role in Modi’s presence, probably with an eye on the future. But it is too early to say if the RSS will be able to regain its position of privilege.

(Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, a Delhi-based journalist, is author of ‘The Demolition, The Verdict and The Temple: The Definitive Book on the Ram Mandir Project’. X: @NilanjanUdwin.)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.