In 100th Year, RSS Says Won't Depend on 'Affiliate' BJP to Deliver Hindu Rashtra

For the RSS, putting the house in order has emerged as the top concern, writes Manish Anand.

The big takeaway from the RSS conclave in Bengaluru is that it no longer seeks to depend on its affiliates to achieve its core objectives. Instead, it needs to nourish and grow its own flock, writes Manish Anand. 

(Photo: Aroop Mishra/The Quint)

The Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) is turning 100 — and putting the house in order has emerged as the top concern of the Sangh Parivar at the end of its three-day-long annual deliberations in Bengaluru recently.

There is a growing concern among the RSS top brass that its affiliates, including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), are not contributing strength to achieve the organisation's core agenda of 'One Nation, One People' (and 'One Culture')—and so, it needs to nourish and grow its own flock to do so.

“The outfit feels that the progress on the key agenda of the RSS is way too slow. This requires improving coordination with the governments where the BJP is in power, including the Centre. In some of the states where the BJP is in power, it has been flagged that the coordination is lacking,” a source explains talking to The Quint.  

No More Banking on Affiliates 

The saffron outfit, which is known to be the parent organisation to at least 36 affiliates, including the ruling BJP, appears to be having second thoughts about its political champion.

Explaining the importance of the three-day-long deliberations, a source close to the outfit tells The Quint,

“The RSS has become sanguine to the need to strengthen itself. The earlier approach of banking on the affiliates to achieve the core objectives may not work in the coming years.”

That it may be planning to move away from the BJP could be suggested by its plans to embark on a mass mobilisation campaign for three months from November 2025 to February 2026.

“A large-scale, door-to-door campaign for three weeks has been planned with the theme 'Har gaon, Har basti, ghar ghar (every village, every locality, and home to home)'," said the RSS note on the agenda for the centenary programme of the outfit.

"The RSS aim of a united Hindu society in which caste and regional differences are blurred seems tough to attain politically. Politics is rather deepening caste and regional divides," an RSS functionary, on condition of anonymity, tells The Quint. Among senior Sangh leaders, there is a sense that "the BJP is now slipping into a comfort zone".

“The delay in the organisational elections in the BJP has been flagged. That the new BJP president is not yet appointed even after eight months of incumbent JP Nadda becoming a Union Minister has found mention in discussions. Somehow, there are hints that the BJP is gripped with inertia,” a source claims.

Demystifying the Saffron Agenda

In its 100th year, the outfit is aiming to be better understood. With its 'One Nation, One People' agenda, the RSS argues that the identity of India is not geographical, but cultural. To achieve this homogenous cultural identity, caste, regional, and religious lines must be blurred.

But sources state that top Sangh pracharaks feel that people "don't really know why the RSS has a particular kind of a flag; or why it has a unique uniform; or what exactly does the 'One Nation, One People' agenda truly mean".

To this effect, the Sangh plans to take up the task on its own to reach out to people, irrespective of caste and religion, with a view to explain itself and be better understood.

According to RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale, the three-month-long mass outreach will increase “proactively counter narratives”.

“There is a deepening sense within the RSS that the people still lack understanding of the organisation. To this effect, the RSS will embark on demystification.”

Source close to the RSS

If the idea of 'One Nation, One People' is understood, there will be no need of conversion in the country on the religious lines, a senior RSS functionary tells The Quint, adding,

“All people belong to Hindu culture. The RSS will, on its own, carry this message to the people. To do this, the organisation will work to strengthen itself.”

Maha Kumbh-Style Mass Outreach

The RSS joint general secretary Arun Kumar, on the second day of the three-day-long national executive meeting, explained the objective of the mass outreach — "attaining the goal of 'One Nation, One People, as shown by the Maha Kumbh.”

The ultimate goal that the RSS identified for its ‘what next?’ agenda was brought out in a special resolve that spotlighted over burying differences – regional and social – by "building a model society, following harmonious practices, rejecting all types of discrimination, promoting value-based families founded on eco-friendly lifestyle, and creating a society fully immersed in selfhood and committed to civic duties."

The Maha Kumbh at Prayagraj was regularly cited as a template for overcoming differences by the RSS. 

“The Maha Kumbh demolished the idea of secularism with the might of the 'Sanatan Dharma'. This is the template to work in years ahead to bury the differences within the Hindu society,” an RSS functionary told The Quint upon condition of anonymity.

A senior functionary from the ruling party with RSS pedigree notes that with the RSS' core agenda – construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, abrogation of Article 370, and the Uniform Civil Code – are now in the realm of tasks fulfilled. Therefore, deciding 'what next?' is crucial for the RSS. "The lack of an actionable and emotively identifiable roadmap may prove to be a roadblock in attracting new pool of activists,” he says.

Thus, at its centennial crossroad, the Sangh seemed in a mood to soul search.

One thing remains clear, though. In the coming years, one can expect an assertive RSS—keen to be more visible and vocal. Unlike in the past when top leaders skirted questions and avoided media, Sangh leaders appeared more candid in Bengaluru.

They didn’t duck any question in the three press conferences—and spoke extensively and effusively about their own existential crisis.

The Sangh's bid for greater autonomy beyond its affiliates is likely to impact the internal politics of the BJP, led by many a leader with Sangh backing.

(The author is a senior Delhi-based journalist with over two decades of political journalism spent in The New Indian Express, Deccan Chronicle, The Asian Age, and The Statesman. This is an opinion piece. All views expressed are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)