A widely circulated essay by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat crossing the age of 75 on Thursday drew national attention. It’s natural and justified on the part of the Prime Minister to have praised the Sarsangh Chalak, whose visionary engineering of India’s democratic process through the arm of the RSS’ political outfit, the BJP, brought Modi upfront. It was the RSS that offered the PM nomination to Modi on a platter in 2014, exploiting the social schisms in the country and turning these to the advantage of the Saffron enterprise. Branded with a newly acquired ‘BC’ label, Modi played roles effectively, projected himself as a messiah of the poor, then as Chowkidar, and later as pride of the entire nation. The script was RSS’s very own, and Modi played it out with eminent ease.
The main beneficiary of the three consecutive terms of the Modi rule has been the RSS, who ably used these years to strengthen its organisational heft not just in the Hindi belt, but across the country. It must however be noted that it is not in the RSS’ character to heap praises on anyone, including the Prime Minister. Its silence speaks volumes. A high sense of discipline is evident in the nationalistic, service-oriented organisation’s conduct. Discipline is but a façade. The outpourings in the form of the Sarsangh Chalak’s public statements are only a cover for the organisation’s long-term hidden agenda. It must, however, be admitted that Modi as Prime Minister has been somewhat cautious in implementing sectarian agenda.
He’s going slow and as PM has not acted with much courage; a reason why his last 11 years have been a season of political and economic stability. He dropped contentious issues like a hot potato – as in the farm reform bills. While praising Bhagwat, Modi cleverly circumvented the age factor. The Sarsangh Chalak perhaps gives no weight to Modi’s prescription that those holding public offices and party positions must hang up their boots after age 75. Bhagwat might carry on even after overseeing the RSS’ centenary celebrations in October. He has the grit and determination to run the organisation and take his attempts at social engineering to new levels. Modi, who too would be crossing age 75 a week hence, is also bound to hector on with renewed vigour. Ideally, the old order must give way to new; ageing men must groom their second line of successors and step aside. Be it a nation or an organisation, injection of new blood is of paramount importance. India couldn’t imagine a future without visionary first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Change, however, is in the order of things. A natural tendency for those who hold office, principally freewheeling politicians drunk with power and mass adulation, is to carry on and on. They use their clout to build a circle of protection around them. Modi’s bar on post-75 politicians was a good step to counter such ills. Else, the nation will suffer the ills of decadence.
