Narendra Modi’s battle with Sangh Parivar shows no signs of easing
By Arun Srivastava
It was shocking to see incarnation of Lord Vishnu, who is even followed and revered by Lord Jagannath of Puri, prostrating before two mortal politicians Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu for their support to satiate his desire for becoming prime minister for third consecutive term. In a phase when the saints and religious gurus nurse earthly craving for enjoying political power, a politician certainly cannot be expected to perform a reverse role and behave like a saint.
Narendra Modi projecting himself as Lord Vishnu and his fortnight old claim “he was “convinced” that he was “sent by god”, simply reinforces his sadistic quest for power. To strengthen his claim for power, he had even said that the energy he possesses cannot come from a biological body and only god could give him this type of energy.
People of India have seen how to quench his thirst for absolute power, he allowed the Gujarat pogrom to happen. He would have put a break to the violence but did not as that provided him with the opportunity to polarise the Hindus to build a strong base Standing on that he could rule for decades. Anyone who came his way was shown his place. People are yet to forget his seeking vote in 2019 exploiting Pulwama massacre.
Modi nevertheless is clear about thing; for ascending to the top political position. It is imperative that you should target the tallest person, not the minions. He knew that to score in the game of political one-upmanship he must target the Nehru-Gandhi family, the first family of India. That would prove to be productive as it would catch the imagination of the people; look here is the leader who has guts to challenge the Nehruvian hegemony. He has proved to be right. He made other BJP leaders, even of senior stature, look like dwarfs. Modi acquired the status of monarch, no body dared to open his mouth, his words resonated like laws.
Riding on this borrowed political power, courtesy Nehru-Gandhi family, he dictated the politics and even side lined most of the senior BJP and RSS leaders. It is a fact that during his ten year stay in power, he never visited RSS office in Nagpur and did not cheer any of the senior RSS leaders. RSS had the practice of assigning its one of the senior leaders as the general secretary (organisation) of BJP. But Modi did away with this practice. The most significant incident to take note is, Modi never visited RSS headquarters to call on RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat. His meetings took place outside Nagpur while Bhagwat was on some tour. Stories about his arrogance are in abundance.
Obviously it was quite shocking to see Modi prostrating before Nitish and Naidu. An insight into his changed behaviour nonetheless underscores that it is not natural, it is an act to conceal his real intentions. It is a mask. He knows that he has overcome the crisis for the time being. Once he is firmly settled in power, he would start showing his true colours. Basically this is the reason that he is not willing to concede to the demands of Nitish and Naidu to give them the post of Speaker, Home and Finance. He would lose the overall dominance once he concedes these offices to them.
A question is doing the rounds of political circles as to why he is hell bent on becoming the prime minister for the third time. The reply is very simple. He wants to project himself as equal to Pandit Nehru, who was also the prime minister for three consecutive terms. It is the greatest achievement for a person suffering from an acute inferiority complex. At least he would be counted as one above the others. Already the national media has started eulogising him for his achievement.
His desperation to occupy the office of prime minister got reflected in his move to manoeuvre the NDA meeting which allegedly elected him as the leader of NDA. Modi initially should have been elected by the newly elected MPs after getting the approval of the national body of the party. But he was not sure of getting the clearance as many senior leaders were opposed to his continuance. They had told the RSS leadership in no uncertain terms that people had rejected him.
Modi loyalists and especially the Gujarat lobby has been citing the invitation letters sent to the state heads of the neighbouring countries for attending the swearing ceremony. They have been arguing that if Modi is not allowed to become prime minister, it would be humiliating for India. But the RSS leaders as well as senior leaders are not willing to listen to this ridiculous argument. The RSS leaders want to know at whose advice they sent the invitation? Invitations have already been sent to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe, and Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’. Around 8,000 dignitaries have been invited.
According to RSS sources, this clearly manifests the autocratic functioning of Modi. There is a lurking apprehension in the RSS that he would turn more aggressive and autocratic if he comes to occupy the office by manoeuvring the situation and support. In view of RSS leaders adopting a no-nonsense approach to this issue, Amit Shah had summoned some RSS leaders at his residence this week to thrash out the issue. But it does not appear that he has achieved a major breakthrough.
RSS leaders are also quite cut up at Modi’s move to distribute the ministries and at the so-called composition of the Union Council of Ministers led by Modi. Barring Arun Kumar who is the interface between the party and the Sangh, no senior leader attended the meet held at Shah’s place. Quite significantly, the meeting, held two days after the BJP lost majority in Lok Sabha coincided with the meeting the BJP leadership held to work out a formula for Cabinet formation and negotiations on the nature and participation of partners in the coalition government.
Two leaders Nitin Gadkari and Shivraj Singh Chouhan are in constant touch with RSS. Even after Modi’s election as the leader of the BJP Parliamentary Party and the NDA, the fissures within the BJP will continue. It is to be seen how Prime Minister elect Narendra Modi and RSS boss Mohan Bhagwat arrive at an understanding on the future course of action. (IPA Service)