Lal Krishna Advani has been calling Manmohan Singh the weakest Prime Minister for quite some time. Recently Manmohan Singh decided to hit back and reminded the nation about the role of Advani in Kandhar episode, Babri demolition and Gujarat violence. Sonia Gandhi’s response to Advani’s barbs was at deeper level as she called Advani and most of BJP leadership as ‘slave of RSS’ (Bidar, Karnataka, April 15). This jolted the BJP leadership which gave some weak mumbled response. BJP-RSS relationship was once again brought to the public attention. It became clear that it is really the RSS which through various mechanisms, ideological and organisational, controls the second largest party in the country.
While RSS has always been calling itself a cultural organisation, by now its mask is off and the society at large knows that it is a political organisation which has very shrewdly and cleverly been training swayamsevaks (volunteers) who in turn have formed various organisations to control the politics at all the levels. These organisations formed by it range from Rashtra Sevika Samiti in 1936 to Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad, Bhartiya Jansangh, Vishwa Hindu Parishad to Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram etc. These organisations in turn have formed other subordinate organisations. What is common in these is that they are all formed by trained RSS swayamsevaks (ideological control) and that the core figures of these organisations meet often under RSS control, to coordinate their strategy. Their aim is to carry on the work of RSS, i.e. to push the country into becoming a Hindu Rashtra. Notably all the major characters from its stable from Nathuram Godse, Vajpayee, Advani, Narendra Modi etc. have been the RSS pracharaks at various points of time.
As far as BJP is concerned it is the new avatar of Bhartiya Jansangh which was formed 1951 jointly with Shyama Prasad Mukerjee of Hindu Mahasabha in 1951. RSS that time felt the need for a political organisation in the aftermath of murder of Mahatma Gandhi. This had led to its ban on RSS by the Government of India, with Sardar Patel as the Home Minister. For formation of Bhartiya Jansangh RSS loaned three of its prominent pracharaks, Atal Behari Vajpayee, Deendayal Upadhyay and Lal Krishna Advani. After Mookerji’s death RSS tightened its grip on Jansangh.
Later at Sindi (Wardha, Maharashtra) a political training camp was organised for 300 pracharaks from March 9 to March 16, 1954. The camp was aimed to train national RSS leadership for running the affairs of the country through Jansangh. RSS sarsanghchalak (supreme dictator) M.S. Golwalkar in his speech (March 16) elaborated his vision for Jansangh, “If we say that we are part of the organisation and accept its discipline then selectiveness has no place in life. Do what is told. If told to play kabaddi, play kabaddi; told to hold meeting then meeting… For instance some of our friends were told to go and work for politics that does not mean that they have great interest or inspiration for it… If they are told to withdraw from politics then also there is no objection. Their discretion is just not required.” [Golwalkar, M. S., Shri Guruji Samagar Darshan, Volume III, Bhartiya Vichar Sadhna, Nagpur , 1978, p. 32.]
Essentially the swayamsevaks deputed to work for BJP are expected to dance to the tunes of RSS and are there merely working to fulfil the agenda of the controlling organisation, the RSS.
After Emergency, Bharatiya Jansangh also became part of Janata Party, put together by Jayapraksh Narayan. This coalition was torn apart when the issue of duel membership came up. The socialist members of Janata Party raised the issue that there can’t be double membership, meaning thereby that those who are members of Janata Party can’t have affiliation to RSS. The Jansangh component of Janata Party broke way as they said their loyalty to RSS is above the membership of Janata Party. Their basic goal was out in the open, they were mere players, while RSS is the real controller.
Later the same component resurfaced as Bharatiya Janta Party. They pretended to have Gandhian Socialism as their goal. It was a mere ploy for them; so they dumped it soon enough to latch on to the chariot of Lord Ram; exploiting whose name they gradually increased their electoral clout. Especially after their coming to power one could see that they are not only subservient to RSS organisationally and ideologically but even in the matters of small detail like when Jaswant Singh was to become Finance Minister, RSS got it changed and Yashwant Sinha was made Finance Minister.
When Atal Behari Vajpayee was Prime Minister, in his speech in Staten Island US, he reaffirmed his primary loyalty to RSS. Advani has been a regular visitor to RSS office in Jhandewalan Estate and Nagpur RSS head office. It is well known how RSS was unhappy with his ‘Secular Jinnah’ speech and so he had to resign from the Presidentship of BJP. We also know that the core organising secretaries of BJP at different levels are RSS nominees and RSS has a special top-level secretary looking after/supervising the BJP affairs.
One will beg to differ with Sonia Gandhi on one small count; slaves normally are just obeying the orders of the masters. Here the BJP, its leadership not only obeys the RSS orders, it has internalised the RSS agenda and its job is to devise different strategies and moves to ensure that RSS agenda of Hindu nation becomes strong. When in power BJP makes ground for infiltration of its siblings (other RSS progeny) in different wings of the state apparatus, social work, education and other possible conduits for transforming the state and society into the image of RSS. It is not for nothing that at election time all RSS volunteers and the workers of its progeny all come in full force to campaign for BJP.