“The RSS is expanding its role-from being the cultural organisation to master strategist, influencing the BJP’s decisions ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. This is certainly a significant development,” viewed a member of the Congress “think tank” here on Monday.
The RSS is openly influencing the BJP by calling its top leaders — L.K. Advani, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, Rajnath Singh, Narendra Modi and Nitin Gadkari — at its headquarters in Nagpur for consultations.
Later, it had called the second rung leaders in the BJP at Jhandewalan in New Delhi. This is something different from the set pattern of the RSS functioning, he pointed out.
The anti-Congress parties are watching the new role of the RSS.
The RSS prefers to work behind the scene as a strategy, and thus always maintained a distance from the erstwhile Bharatiya Jana Sangh and later the BJP, under the pretext that its main objective is to strengthen cultural nationalism.
But it is becoming more assertive after the BJP allies started deserting the NDA one after another after the emergence of new leadership in the BJP.
The BJD, Trinamul Congress, TDP, DMK, INLD, LJP and now the Janata Dal (U) quit the NDA. On the other hand, the BSP led by Mayawati moved closer to the Congress after the 2002 Gujart riots. And the more RSS asserts, the more BJP will lose its prospective allies.
The RSS’ s growing role could lead to BJP’s isolation. This is because the RSS network has not been helping it in West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Assam.
The BJP could rule the country during 1998 to 2004 under the prime ministership of Atal Behari Vajpayee only after it put the core Hindutva agenda — Ayodhya, common civil code and abrogation of Article 370 — under the carpet.