The rift between BJP and its ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) seems to be growing following recent Lok Sabha elections. BJP’s failure to get absolute majority on its own also attributing discontent prevailed among RSS cadres in some key states towards the BJP campaign that cornered around `Modi Guarantee’.
These discontent remarks were followed by senior RSS leader Indresh Kumar who said Lord Ram limited those with “ahankar” to just “241 seats” (BJP won 240 seats) and those who opposed the Hindu deity were “stopped at 234”, referring to the BJP and the INDIA bloc respectively.
Speaking at an event in Jaipur he refrained from directly naming the BJP but commented on a political party that had grown arrogant despite its allegiance to Ram, resulting in limited success of 241 seats.
“You can witness Ram’s justice even in 2024, during the festival of democracy. The party that worshipped Ram but gradually became arrogant was declared the largest party. However, due to their arrogance, the votes and power they should have received were withheld by God,” Kumar stated at the Ramrath Ayodhya Yatra Darshan Pujan Samaroh in Kanota near Jaipur.
The gulf started with the style of BJP campaign concentrating around an individual ignoring the prominence of the party or its core ideology. It was fueled by the comments of BJP chief JP Nadda in the middle of the campaign.
In a pre-election interview with The Indian Express, he suggested that the BJP, having matured, now operates independently of the RSS, which he termed a cultural front. This assertion reportedly did not sit well with RSS leaders, who have since been vocal about their discontent following the BJP’s electoral shortfall.
After a few days of poll results, RSS chief Dr. Mohan Bhagwat said a “true Sevak” does not have “ahankar (arrogance)”and advised come out from election mania and concentrate on crucial issues like Manipur. He also practically admonished the `low language’ used during poll campaigns against political adversaries.
Later, an RSS ideology in any article in its mouthpiece Organiser attributed BJP’s poll disappointing prospects to its `over confidence’ and negligence of `hard core activists’.