There is a serious crisis between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. The verbal assault unleashed by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, without however taking his name, is symptomatic of that. This underlines the fact that there is serious churn within the Sangh Parivar to figure out if Modi’s continuance is really required for the greater good of Hindutva. Against the basic understanding of the issue that the crisis is personal, for me the crisis is more ideological. It is about the future of the Hindu Samaj, about its perception in India and outside. The RSS is more worried about the fact that if Hindutva is perceived globally in the same way as radical Islam, then the entire project of ‘Hindu unity’ will be in jeopardy. BJP’s excessive use of Islamophobia as an election plank in these elections of 2024 has damaged the cause of Hindutva more than Modi’s personalised style of campaigning. Mohan Bhagwat’s earlier as well as the recent statement that “no one should consider themselves God, as it is the people who make God”, is only an attempt to nudge Modi and his team to either mend their ways or leave the battleground for another general to lead the Hindutva army.

It normally does not happen within the Sangh Parivar that leaders snipe at each other. At a time when the RSS is completing 100 years of its existence, the BJP has categorically told the RSS that it did not need the RSS to win elections or form the government. It has become self-sufficient. J P Nadda’s statement in the middle of the elections was an indication that the low-intensity war had begun between the two. The RSS has also acknowledged that it is ready for the battle. After a three-day meet in Kerala, it admitted for the first time that there were differences within the Hindutva family. Although the RSS spokesperson said that it was a family matter and would be sorted out, I wish it was so simple. Ideological battles are more dangerous than personal feuds.

Bhagwat, a few days after the election results, had shocked the whole world when he said “a swayamsevak is never ahankari” (an RSS volunteer is never arrogant). He also aimed a........

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