RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat is desperate to fix the soup he has landed in. His advice to Hindu society to refrain from raking up temple-mosque is part of this course-correction exercise. While suggesting to neo-Hindutva crusaders to refrain from raking up such issues, Bhagwat also cautioned that nobody can become a “leader of Hindus” by continuing to “raise temple-mosque disputes.”
In the 11 years of the Modi rule, Hindutva propagators have mushroomed everywhere and in his eagerness to emerge as the supreme leader of the Hindutva, Bhagwat allowed them to grow. He patronised “sants and swamis” whose job is to propagate the Hindutva philosophy of RSS and Bhagwat. They have one thing in common: both crave power, for which they use the political philosophy of Hindutva. These people have been using Hindutva and propagating ultra Hindutva line for their personal gains. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has never been associated with the RSS. Yogi has his own Hindu Yuva Vahini.
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Demand for excavation of masjids for tracing Hindu temples has been acute in UP. Yogi contradicting Bhagwat was seen in the BJP circles as his attempt to emerge as the worthy successor of “Hindu Hriday Samrat” Modi. But a quick learner, Yogi preferred to fall in line and stand by Bhagwat. RSS had planned to use Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj to project Yogi as a Modi-like brand, a Hindutva icon.
Having come to realise that his protest to Bhagwat may jeopardise his future, Yogi endorsed Bhagwat’s line that the protection of Sanatan Dharma is essential for world peace. Bhagwat was forced to come out with this statement to counter the pro-Modi leaders and elements in the saffron ecosystem and to frustrate the attempt to hijack RSS’s agenda. After the 2019 Lok Sabha win, Modi has been assiduously trying to project himself as the supreme leader of the saffron ecosystem. It was only recently, just ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, could Bhagwat and other RSS leaders showed Modi his right place.
It is only now that Modi has become proactive and not loosen his grip on the party. A large number of saffron leaders are advocating Modi’s line. The Akhil Bharatiya Sant Samiti (AKSS), which is close to Modi, has criticised Bhagwat’s remarks, saying that these are matters for religious leaders to decide and not for the RSS.
The war of supremacy between Bhagwat and Modi has been raging and has now turned aggressive and sharper with the date for the election of a BJP president of BJP comes closer. Bhagwat has also come to realise that the RSS and BJP have been losing their support base. The various Hindu groups are sharpening their attacks on Muslims. Nearly two months back Bhagwat had advised the saffron rank and file to maintain restraint.
The latest developments have fallen flat. Bhagwat sees them as open defiance and this is unacceptable to the RSS leadership. The dissent between the RSS and the BJP will be playing a pivotal role in the fast evolving “Hindutva” philosophy which can be seen branching from its very foundation. A crystalline propagation of a synchronised philosophy can work for the progress of the people of the nation.
