Why Didn't RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat Wish Modi on His Birthday?

In the early eighties in Mumbai, Babasaheb Bhosale replaced A.R. Antulay as the Maharashtra Chief Minister. There was an alleged attempt on his life by a frustrated textile mill worker.

Any Tom, Dick, and Harry in the ruling dispensation in the state and the Union government, and even some from the opposition as well as the business class, condemned the attack. The whole thing died down soon. As one reaction was missing. It was from the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

By any stretch of the imagination, Narendra Modi is no Babasaheb Bhosale, the late leader who was a sort of jester and a non-serious man. He was suddenly catapulted to the top by Indira Gandhi, who had grown weary of Antulay following court cases over his controversial trusts, one of which was named after her. It was blasphemous for the Congress loyalist. She was India’s undisputed leader at that time.

Cut to the present: World leaders, from Donald Trump to Vladimir Putin and Benjamin Netanyahu, to name a few, complimented  Prime Minister Narendra Modi on turning 75. Admirers insisted that Modi has emerged as the longest-serving head of government among the leaders of all major democracies.

In India, the elaborate celebrations, advertisements, and articles all over the country were planned to the T, in which the PM was praised to the skies by his followers and admirers, including many from the business community, sports fraternity, and the other Who’s Who. In fact, it could have been the biggest birthday bash of the century, much like the Ambani marriage. It was like a whole nation stopped to say ‘Thank you, Modi ji’. “For nothing”, a cynic observed.

Those who hailed him included all the high and mighty in the ruling dispensation, including leaders of the allies of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It was to project that India has turned into a land of milk and honey under Modi. Howsoever correct or otherwise.

Amid all this huge tamasha, one formal compliment was  missing, and it looked telling.

The formal tribute missing was that of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, who was hailed by the PM only ten days ago through an article as the one whose leadership has proved to be the most transformative for the organisation.

It was the RSS where Modi had started his journey as a ‘swayamsevak’ over half a century ago.

The PM’s fulsome praise for Bhagwat had come at his 75th birthday on Sept 11, some six months after Modi for the first time visited RSS headquarters in 11 years, apparently to pay his respects to the Sangh leadership at a time when the BJP leadership has failed to elect a new president for the past 14 months since the last Lok Sabha polls.

In his independence day address from the ramparts of the Red Fort, the PM had also hailed the contribution of the RSS which is celebrating its centenary. It was the first time since independence that the address was utilised to praise the Nagpur-headquartered Sangh.

At a lecture series in the national capital to mark the occasion last month, Bhagwat had dismissed speculation that his remarks at a book launch on the late RSS veteran Moropant Pingle meant that he had hinted that the PM should retire at 75.

Notwithstanding the fact that there is no tradition in the Sangh to celebrate birthdays, 75th year for any Swayamsevak should be a joyous occasion for the RSS, especially given the fact that, unlike any other leader, Modi has implemented its agenda.

The unwillingness of the Sangh and its top leader to formally compliment the PM could mean that the RSS is facing a catch-22 situation in regard to dealing with him. Modi might have hailed Bhagwat’s leadership as “most transformative” for the RSS, but it is also a fact that Modi’s influence has grown much within a section of the Sangh.

Reports had it that Dattatreya Hosabale, who is the number two in the RSS and runs its day-to-day affairs, is close to the PM

Modi, hailed as the Hindu Hruday Samrat, has become far bigger than the BJP and the RSS and has ensured unprecedented expansion of the BJP and its ideology through his aggressive Hindutva.

Apparently to curry favour with the Sangh, the PM has seen to it that the RSS has a huge building in the national capital, which could be a matter of envy for any group that peddles itself as a cultural organisation.

The rise of Modi as a leader has also dwarfed the RSS and its leadership. Incumbent BJP president J.P. Nadda’s statement in the midst of the last Lok Sabha elections that the Sangh should restrict itself to ideological issues is bound to have rattled the Sangh. A meaning of Nadda’s controversial statement was to suggest to the RSS that it should in a way withdraw itself into a ‘Margdarshak Mandal’ with the BJP in safe hands.

The growing influence of Union home minister Amit Shah in the running of the party is seen in political circles as a bone of contention as the RSS is said to be pitching for the next BJP president to be a real leader capable of taking decisions on his own.

A formal compliment from the RSS chief on Modi’s 75th birthday would have been seen not only as a reciprocal gesture but also as a matter of reposing implicit faith in the leadership of Modi of the BJP and its alliance government.

Such an action would have put paid to the detractors in the BJP and the Sangh who have been cautioning that Modi is no longer an asset, as was the case 11 years ago.

The fact is that the personality cult built by Modi to project himself larger than life has made the RSS think a thousand times before making any move. The influence of Modi is such that his known detractor, Sanjay Joshi, has been in the political wilderness for the past 11 years despite hailing the leadership of the PM.

RSS's silence on extending birthday greetings to Modi has been noticed by the bhakts and detractors alike. The Prime Minister has been lauded as Vishwaguru by the BJP since 2014.

The irony is there for all to see. At a time when world leaders, including Trump and the main political opponent Rahul Gandhi, wished Modi a long and healthy life, Nagpur is virtually in a vow of silence.

One can understand RSS's reservations about Atal Bihari Vajpayee, whose liberal image diluted RSS's Hindu agenda, but Modi's image as Hindu Hruday Samrat has not been endorsed by Nagpur at least in the last eleven years.

After the last Lok Sabha polls in which Modi failed to get a majority for the BJP, the RSS had disapproved of the “ahankar” of the “sevak.” Modi calls himself “pradhan sevak.”

One can sense the hidden tussle between Modi and the RSS which is yet to come out openly. Modi has posed multiple challenges to the RSS and the way it navigates its ship in the times to come will decide the shape of things.

An uneasy calm is the most deceptive. A decision or otherwise on the vexed issue of BJP Presidentship will be a sure sign of how deep the divide is.

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