India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), have stepped up efforts to beef up the RSS’ image as a cultural organization and project themselves as distinct entities.
In a recent interview published in Indian Express, J. P. Nadda, national president of the BJP, went to great lengths to establish the RSS as an apolitical organization that is separate from the BJP. The “RSS is a cultural organization and we are a political organization,” Nadda said, adding that the RSS has “a century-long experience of working on socio-cultural issues.”
Distinguishing the work the BJP and RSS do, Nadda pointed out that their “areas of working [are] very clearly established”: “Woh ideologically apna kaam karte hain, hum apna” (They do their ideology-related work, we do ours). With the BJP capabilities having grown, it “runs itself,” Nadda said, stressing that “we are managing our own affairs in our own way.” In essence, the BJP chief was making the point that the RSS is not involved in the BJP’s political work.
A few days later Ram Madhav, an executive member of the RSS and a former spokesperson of the BJP, reiterated the RSS’ apolitical character in an article. The RSS is focused on “nation-building activities” and not politics, he wrote, pointing out that but for the 1977 and 2014 general elections when the RSS was convinced of the need to involve itself in canvassing for parties, it has “stayed away from active politics.”
What the two leaders said is nothing that the RSS and the BJP have not claimed before. The RSS has always maintained that it is a cultural organization and that it neither has political objectives nor engages in political activity. The RSS denies that it has anything to do with politics, decisions, or policymaking of the BJP, or with the BJP’s election efforts. However, RSS and BJP leaders seem to have initiated of late a concerted campaign to send out this message loud and clear.
This story was originally published in thediplomat.com. Read the full story here.
