As the election season in India is in progress there have been observations that this time RSS volunteers have not been visible on the field to help the BJP with electoral mobilization. So far, in most elections barring the one of 1984, in the aftermath of anti-Sikh pogrom. There are many guesses about the role of the RSS combine in the elections this time. In this context, the interview of BJP president J.P.Nadda, given to the Indian Express (May 19, 2024), claims that the RSS is a cultural and social organization while the BJP is a political party. Nadda said that “… the BJP was now self-reliant and was fully capable of running its own affairs. The party has evolved over a period of time and unlike when during Atal Behari Vajpayee’s time, it was completely dependent on the RSS, this was not the case anymore.”

This has to be viewed particularly in the light of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s spectacular rise, with most of his decisions being made by him, and the charisma created around him by multiple mechanisms, including what is derided as "Godi (lapdog) media" controlled by his circle of corporate cronies. Some will tend to believe that the BJP is now an autonomous party like any other party. Can this be true?

The RSS was formed in the context of rising ‘Indian consciousness’ during the freedom struggle. India’s anti-colonial freedom struggle was founded on the values of pluralism and diversity. The triggering point for the formation of the RSS was the rising Dalit struggles for social equality. The formation of this Hindu nationalist organization was also inspired by the nationalism of Mussolini and Hitler. Unlike another organizationf devoted to Hindu nationalism, the Hindu Mahasabha, RSS focused on training swayamsevaks (ideological volunteers) and pracharaks (propagators) in the ideology of Hindu nationalism rather than jumping directly into the political arena.

In due course, it started throwing up different organizations, mostly formed by its trained volunteers. Interestingly the first subordinate organization was Rashtra Sevika Samiti for women. This was guided by K.B. Hedgewar the first RSS chief or sarsanghchalak, and formed by the women close to the RSS pracharaks as women are not permitted in the RSS itself. The pracharaks in due course formed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, Bhartiya Majdoor Sangh, Vishwas Hindu Parishad and a bit later Bajrang Dal. Today, it has over 60 front organizations working on the agenda of building a Hindu Rashtra (nation).

Formation of BJP

The formation of the political wing of RSS came in the wake of the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, by the RSS-trained Nathuram Godse. RSS felt the need for a political party that could articulate its ideology in the political arena. So far entering the political arena was an anathema for this organization. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee of Hindu Mahasabha, helped by the Arya Samaj in particular, took the lead in the formation of BJP’s predecessor, Bhartiya Jana Sangh. RSS loaned three of its prominent pracharaks to Jana Sangh - Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Lal Krishan Advani and Deendayal Upadhyay. Later with Deendayal Upadhyay becoming the President of Jan Sangh, the.RSS control on this party became total.

At the same time, its shakhas (units) were training young boys in the ideology of Hindu nationalism, based on the glorification of the ancient past and demonisation of Muslims. As per Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, India's first home minister and deputy prime minister, it was the hate spread by RSS due to which the murder of Gandhi became possible. He said "As a final result of the poison, the country had to suffer the sacrifice of the invaluable life of Gandhi."

Jana Sangh-RSS eagerly joined the Jayaprakash Narayan movement in 1975 against Indira Gandhi's authoritarian rule. Soon they came to control the movement and got respectability in public eyes, which was extremely low due to their association with Gandhi's murder. Jana Sangh also merged into the Janata Party. Soon many components of the Janata Party asked the Jana Sangh leaders in the party to give up their association with the RSS, i.e. to give up dual membership (of Janata Party and RSS). The Jana Sangh leaders owed their primary loyalty to the RSS and left the Janata Party to form the Bhartiya Janata Party, or today's BJP, in 1980.

While they were nurtured and trained in the ideology of Hindu nationalism, the BJP for electoral purposes put forward “Gandhian Socialism” as their motto. As they did not get much traction on the electoral arena they soon shifted gears and took up Babri Mosque-Ram Temple as the central issue. The accompanying anti-Muslim violence and its backlash led to religious polarization and BJP’s ascent on the political chessboard went up by leaps and bounds.

RSS' phenomenal growth

The major policies of the RSS fraternity of the Hindu Right, of which BJP is a component, are coordinated through the annually held Akhil Bhartiya India Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS, All India Representatives Meeting), presided over by the RSS sarsanghchalak. As the BJP became more powerful the RSS was getting more space to work and infiltrate in the state apparatus. Since 2014, the number of RSS shakhas has gone up in number in a big way. As per the ABPS report of 2022-23 stated: “Over 8,500 new shakhas were started by the RSS in the country during 2022-23. The total number of shakhas rose 12 per cent to 68,651 from 60,117 during the previous year. “

This shows the speed with which RSS work is expanding during BJP rule. What prevails in RSS and BJP is a division of labor, with RSS being the parent organization and laying the broad ideological contours of the march to Hindu Rashtra.

The context in which Nadda was making this statement needs to be understood in light of the party's electoral strategy. It no way signals differences in thinking or the parting of ways between the parent organization and its political progeny. Modi’s towering image is needed for the furtherance of the agenda of a 'Hindu nation'.  So projecting Modi in no way contradicts the agenda of the RSS fraternity; as a matter of fact it only aids their goals in immeasurable ways.

(The writer, a former IIT Bombay professor, is Chairman, Centre for Study of Society and Secularism, Mumbai. Views expressed are the author's own)