BJP tries to mend fences with ‘parent’ RSS in top Kerala meet

Almost three months after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, in which the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) could not get a majority on its own for the first time in a decade, the ruling party and its ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), have decided to bridge the glaring gaps that came to the fore during and after the elections.

Taking the first step for better cooperation from both sides, the RSS is scheduled to hold a three-day meeting in Kerala, from August 31 to September 2, in which leaders of the BJP and all other affiliates of the RSS will be present. The meeting holds significance because this is the first one after BJP president JP Nadda categorically stated in the middle of the election campaign that the BJP has grown from the time it needed the RSS; it is more capable and functions on its own.

BJP goes back to parent

As the election results have brought back the era of coalitions in national politics, with the BJP now being dependent on its National Democratic Alliance (NDA) allies, its reliance on its ideological parent has only increased. It needs the strength of the RSS to reverse its electoral fortunes in the upcoming elections in Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, and Delhi, all of which will be held in the next six months.

“The meeting is very significant because it is happening after BJP president JP Nadda said the party is capable enough to lead on its own and is not dependent on the RSS. The announcement made by the BJP president revealed the intent of the BJP leadership — that it wanted autonomy from the RSS. However, the BJP was limited to 240 seats in the Lok Sabha polls while the NDA could not cross 300. The election results suggest that the BJP leadership needs the help of the Sangh Parivar to win the elections,” Dilip Deodhar, Nagpur-based analyst of the RSS, told The Federal.

Demands from RSS affiliates

The return of coalition politics at the Centre has not just made the Union government accept the demands of the allies on some of the most crucial issues in the past three months, but the BJP leadership has also agreed to some of the demands of the RSS affiliates.

Just before the Budget session of Parliament, members of the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), a prominent affiliate of the RSS, demanded that the Union government agree to its demand of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS). Within a few weeks, the Union government came out with the new Unified Pension Scheme (UPS), which has elements of the OPS. Although it has rejected the charge that the decision to implement the UPS is U-turn from its earlier stand, BMS leaders believe that the UPS is a better alternative to the National Pension System (NPS) despite its differences with the OPS.

“The UPS is better than the NPS. The Union government has tried to overcome the shortcomings of the NPS, and the UPS is closer to the OPS because of its features but there are still some differences. The BMS has been fighting for the restoration of the OPS for the past two decades. We are now waiting for the publication of the notification on the UPS. We will study it in detail to decide the further course of action,” Virjesh Upadhyay, senior leader of BMS, told The Federal.

Needs of Sangh Parivar

It is not only the BMS that is trying to assert itself. During the NEET paper leak controversy that put the Union government in a spot, the RSS affiliate Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) took the lead and organised nationwide protests on the issue.

This is the first time the Union government is coming under pressure from RSS affiliates. Apart from BMS and ABVP, it is also facing pressure from the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS), which has asked it to ensure an increase in the profitability of farmers so that there is money in their hands.

“Just as the BJP has to deal with the NDA partners because it has 240 seats in Lok Sabha and needs its partners for a stable government, it must understand the concerns of the RSS affiliates as well. The difference between 240 and 303 is visible in the NDA; similarly, it will be visible between different RSS affiliates too,” said Deodhar.

New BJP chief

The coordination between the BJP and the RSS is also significant because the BJP is looking for a new party president who will lead it for the next three years. While most of its prominent leaders are now part of the Union council of ministers, the BJP and the RSS leadership are also holding consultations to discuss the names of the leaders who can be considered for the top post.

The RSS leaders are keen that a prominent leader from the Union council of ministers or a former chief minister should be considered for the top post instead of a younger leader. The return of senior RSS leader, Ram Madhav, to the BJP is also being seen as an attempt by the party to take his services in improving its ties with the RSS. Madhav played a pivotal role in winning northeastern states for the BJP and also in the government formation in Jammu and Kashmir.

Political analysts believe that for the BJP, which is already under pressure from its alliance partners, it is important to mend ties with the RSS because it needs the latter’s support to win elections. “The upcoming elections are not going to be easy for the BJP. The Union government has already agreed to the demands of NDA partners on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill and lateral entry into bureaucracy. Whenever BJP is weak, it needs the support of RSS,” Ashutosh Kumar, political science professor at Punjab University, told The Federal.