Behind every successful man is a woman and behind every BJP Prime Minister is the RSS. This was the case with Atal Behari Vajpayee and it is the case with Narendra Modi.
Long before Modi’s name became synonymous with a change of government at the Centre that RSS had been long and hard at work using the failures, scams and subsequent ‘policy paralysis’ of the UPA government to prepare the ground for a BJP victory.
One project was the movement by India Against Corruption to establish an independent Lokpal. Baba Ramdev, Kiran Bedi and General V K Singh were the Sangh Parivaar’s covert operatives that had infiltrated the movement. While Anna Hazare was the public spearhead, he was actually a figurehead who was being supported by the RSS from behind the curtain. That movement, which began in 2011, crystallised and catalysed the public mood against the inertia of the Manmohan Singh government that was mired in corruption. Scam after scam was unearthed and the government was attacked from different platforms. The stage was set.
Narenrda Modi had already established himself as the Hindu Hirday Samrat through his role in the 2002 Gujarat riots that saw more than 2,000 Muslims killed. But by 2012 the intense propaganda over 10 years projected him as a development messiah who had transformed the face and body of Gujarat.
In 2013 when Narendra Modi finally threw his hat in the ring for the Prime Ministership, his candidature, again, was cleared by none other than the RSS top brass. Despite strong opposition from within BJP led by LK Advani and his supporters the RSS selected and then stuck with Modi. Using his stellar abilities to manage men and materials Modi built upon that RSS support to raise the resources to fund one of the most expensive election campaigns. His extraordinary oratory and clear, confident message ensured his success.
This background is to underline the fact that neither the RSS nor Narendra Modi could have formed the first majority BJP government at the Centre without each other. They have made a deal in which the first to deliver was the RSS and now it is Modi’s turn to pay them back.
Modi is focused on delivering on his promises of ‘achhe din’ and ‘sab ka saath, sab ka vikaas’. His development agenda is clear.
However, so is the RSS clear that it wants its Hindutva agenda to be implemented quickly and completely.
Ashok Singhal publicly declared in the World Hindu Congress that after 800 years a Hindu ruler is ruling India again. His reference was to Prithviraj Chauhan, the last Hindu king of Delhi and Ajmer in the 12th century. Next was the controversial ‘Ghar Wapsi’ programmes organised by the RSS to reconvert Muslims and Christians back to Hinduism. Union Minister Sadhvi Niranjan Bharti, MP Adityanath and MP Sakshi Maharaj gave communal statements attacking Muslims. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat himself gave a statement that it is high time that India should become a Hindu Rashtra and then went on to criticise Mother Teresa saying that she served poor people with the ulterior motive to convert them to Christianity.
Then was the Delhi fiasco made worse by the desperate decision to project Kiran Bedi as the CM. The Sangh Parivaar was aghast at that move and many amongst their cadre in Delhi openly criticised that decision. That decision was taken exclusively by Modi, Arun Jaitley and Amit Shah. No senior leader from the BJP was consulted. The RSS was informed later.
Modi ruled Gujarat for more than a decade confronting the RSS and its off shoots head on and successfully sidelining them. He has the experience of keeping the RSS at bay.
But let me tell you the Swadeshi lobby of Swamy, Govindacharya and Gurumurthy, all RSS proxies, are waiting to attack. Their first target is Arun Jaitley, the second target is Amit Shah.
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat (right).