The RSS factor

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been clueless ever since the defeat in 2004. The 2009 verdict has only made things worse. It seems to have further sunk into the slough of despondence.

It may be too early to come up with a credible analysis of why the party lost so comprehensively in spite of its strong local bastions in Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. But it is clear even to the lay person that one of the clear messages of this verdict is that the people have rejected Hindutva, which spells belligerence and destruction. The party might have won in Karnataka, but the nasty trouble created by the Ram Sene in Mangalore has sent ripples of revulsion across the country. So did party member Varun Gandhi’s vitriolic speeches during the campaign in Pilibhit.

Sensible party insiders have realised that it is necessary to become a more moderate party to find wider acceptance across the country. And if left to themselves, the party would have groped its way towards acceptability with the necessary modifications in its message and image. It is at this very moment that the party’s ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), asserts that the BJP should return to pure Hindutva.

Before considering the question whether that is indeed what the BJP needs in its moment of defeat, it is necessary to question the raison d’etre of the RSS-BJP relationship.

The problem with the BJP is not so much that it is wedded to a retrogressive ideology like that of Hindutva, but that it is tied to an antiquated organisation like the RSS. The relationship between the two is curious, strange and bizarre. Curious because it is an instance of a major political party being dictated to by a non-political organisation. RSS claims itself to be a cultural organisation, and pretends to keep its distance from the nitty-gritty of politics. But the RSS never lives up to its own claims.

It is not content to provide the ideological impetus to the BJP. It is keen on directing its affairs as well. The equation is also a strange phenomenon because the two do not openly acknowledge the well-established links. The BJP-RSS linkage assumes bizarre proportions when the RSS assumes parental responsibility for the BJP, and tells it what to do. Much before it decides its future course, the BJP will have to decide about its RSS link.