The party and the shadow

But then, that's precisely the dilemma the RSS has been facing for quite some time. As the BJP grew and widened its base, it absorbed a large number of leaders who don't owe allegiance to the RSS. As a political party, the BJP has its own compulsions, which the RSS refuses to acknowledge. This results in constant friction in the BJP between RSS-backed leaders and those not from the RSS school of thought. In the current arrangement, the RSS lends key functionaries to the BJP, who are basically back office managers. Called sangathan mantris or organisation secretaries, they are a bridge between the RSS and its political outfit. Some (a famous example being Narendra Modi) developed a taste for electoral politics.

Rather than being happy backseat drivers pushing the Sangh agenda, these sangathan mantris got into active politics. The Sangh may disagree but, after all, power has its own charm. The conversion of swayamsevaks into political workers/leaders has caused heartburn in the RSS. The Sangh was so worried about the BJP-isation of its organisation that, at one point, it thought of severing all ties with the BJP. But in reality, it was almost impossible, because the RSS happens to be the holding company and HR supplier/manager of the BJP, contrary to the claims made by its seniors. The RSS has consistently failed to come to terms with the fact that a subsidiary outfit can outgrow the parent and a "protege" can outsmart the "mentor".

Here lies the genesis of the current crisis in the BJP. The RSS refuses to accept this reality and also the fact that the BJP leadership, at times, may not be in sync with the Sangh. In denial, the Sangh was exposed to this truth when Advani, Yashwant Sinha and others stubbornly refused to toe the RSS line on continuing with Gadkari as party president till the 2014 elections. The RSS was keen on Gadkari not because it had faith in his strategic abilities, but because he was more than willing to work as the RSS proxy in the BJP. With no base of his own, Gadkari was happy being the RSS man, a good swayamsevak. Not as "politically smart" as Mahajan or Modi, there was very little danger of him outperforming or defying the parivar.

... contd.

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