Deccan Chronicle, November 8th, 2009
Editorial
RSS shock and awe in BJP
Rarely, if ever, has the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) expressed itself as unambiguously on the selection and composition of the top leadership of the BJP, a party it has spawned but has kept a formal distance from for the sake of appearances, as Mr Mohan Bhagwat, the organisation’s chief, did on Friday, leaving BJP leaders apoplectic. The so-called “cultural” outfit has, thus, come out into the open as the machine that gives dictation to the BJP which is meekly accepted. Political movements and parties develop their own cultures. This is in part shaped by the ideology they follow, and is in part the outcome of the wider milieu in which they operate. As a party of the Hindu right, the BJP had broken its confines of being no more than the sum total of RSS workers and their families and friends, and gained a wider acceptance in the post-socialism phase of Nehru and Indira Gandhi as Congress went into a decline. A wide variety of individuals, who wouldn’t see themselves as communal in outlook, veered toward the party in several evolutionary steps. They believed they were making the shift to a clean, transparent, democratic political vehicle that was better suited than any other formation to take India forward in the changed era. It will be interesting to see how this constituency views the flagrant interference of the RSS in BJP affairs. Mr Bhagwat may direct the choice of the next BJP chief, but will his command help keep the party together? A leader like former external affairs minister Jaswant Singh has already found his trust had been misplaced. It is not unlikely that the BJP has a considerable following of similarly inclined individuals. The new type of politically inclined but non-RSS constituency that had also been drawn to the party on account of the presence of leaders such as Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee and Mr Lal Krishna Advani is today apt to be disillusioned. This segment had something to do with helping the BJP gain a wider appeal and establish a partial hegemony within Indian polity. Mr Bhagwat’s shockingly frank announcement makes it plain that none of the vaunted younger generation BJP leaders operating in the country’s capital can match the young guns of the Congress — the BJP’s main rival — led by Mr Rahul Gandhi, whose energy, operating style, thinking, and charisma have been a revelation after he had been written off by most. When the rabbit is sprung out of Mr Bhagwat’s hat, we shall know who Mr Rajnath Singh’s successor is going to be. But no one in the BJP today looks forward to the announcement of the new chief with any sense of anticipation, such is the party’s degraded morale. Worse, the new chief, operating under the RSS leader’s direct mentorship, is likely to begin with a handicap if he is seen by the party’s current big wigs, who have nursed deep ambitions of their own, as an interloper. These are not easy times for the main Opposition party. The mountains and forests are moving in a Macbethian sense.
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