Nod to homosexuality, FDI: Will the Modi sarkar reveal a new-look RSS?

Just days ago, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh spokesperson Ram Madhav caused jaws to drop when he said at a public event that while he wouldn’t go so far as to glorify homosexuality, criminalising consenting homosexual encounters might be questionable. Now, the RSS has stated that despite any questions its sister unit the Swadeshi Jagran Manch may raise regarding FDI, RSS leaders are determined not to be seen as “economic fundamentalists”. Once again, it was Ram Madhav speaking. “It is about economic sovereignty. The question is whether we will take decisions about what is good for the country…,” Madhav said, adding that the nitty-gritties would be left to the government to decide, including on whether they have to bring in FDI or which sectors FDI should be allowed in. [caption id=“attachment_1231341” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. PTI[/caption] The comments gain currency seen in the backdrop of Defence Minister Arun Jaitley’s announcement that the new government is moving towards 100 percent FDI in defence. According to a report in The Times of India, Jaitley has spoken of the government’s intent to hike FDI cap in the defence sector to 100 percent from the current 26 percent, “a move that has been resisted by the defence ministry for years”. The move would be a strong signal to global investors as well as an opportunity to move some equipment manufacturing into India. Also, with Jaitley currently handling the defence as well as finance portfolios, it may be smooth sailing for such a decision. A report in Business Standard also pointed out that increased FDI in defence would help cut import bills for defence equipment, help boost manufacturing and create jobs. The RSS’s statements on FDI, therefore, and its stand that the government wold simply allay the fears of such entities as the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, are significant given that they give the appearance of the RSS falling in line with the Modi government’s move on liberalising FDI rules. So, is there an all-new RSS waiting in the wings to reveal itself at an opportune moment? There are no easy answers to that. After all, the RSS jumped into the fray when Modi’s MoS in the PMO let his comments run far ahead of the government’s evolving position on Article 370, the Constitutional provision granting special status and a degree of autonomy to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. When Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah tweeted that Article 370 was the “only Constitutional link” between the state and the Union of India and that either Article 370 would remain or the state would cease to be a part of India, the RSS chose to see Abdullah’s comments as a threat and responded saying the Jammu and Kashmir CM did not control the state as a parental estate. The MoS in the PMO, debutant MP Jitendra Singh, retracted his statements, but the RSS’s involvement once again raised the question of just how deep the Sangh’s control runs in the BJP’s affairs, the subject of much discussion in rceent times. Following acknowledgment of the tremendous support of the RSS network of lakhs of members and pracharaks in ensuring the big BJP victory this election, faced with questions over the Sangh parivar’s interference in the government, BJP leaders have pointed out that Modi has neither faced nor had occasion to allow any interference from anybody during his 13 years as chief minister of Gujarat. Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu said as much. Speaking to reporters days after the historic mandate, Naidu said, “There would not be two power centres and all the decisions would be taken by the Modi-led government at the Centre.” He was actually underlining a statement made by the RSS itself just two days earlier. “The Sangh has given no guidelines to the BJP following its huge win, Ram Madhav said. “RSS never keeps any remote control to perform any role in politics and government,” he added. Former Atal Bihari Vajpayee had also insisted that the RSS was no remote control or shadow prime minister. The Sangh has long wanted us to believe that it is not a political organisation, but its thin veneer of apolitical interventions in the political space came off election as it fully backed the BJP’s campaign, its lakhs of members campaigning actively across the country. From backing Modi’s candidature right from the start to reportedly intervening in the squabbles that became apparent during the run-up to the election – BJP patriarch LK Advani’s candidature from Gandhinagar, for example, and more recently over the choice for a new BJP president – the RSS has played a central role this election season. Madhav has himself admitted as much, about the parivar’s role in spreading awareness about exercising their franchise. Perhaps that is why there is popular curiosity on what the RSS’s next card will be. That is also why Indresh Kumar and Sadhvi Rithambhara’s attendance at Modi’s swearing-in ceremony piqued so much interest. Indresh Kumar was previously named in the Samjhauta blasts case, while Rithambhara’s role in the post-Babri demolition period is well known. The role the RSS played in the BJP’s win is still being documented, but in an interview to Business Standard, Ram Madhav has said the organisation is itself undergoing a process of change and adaptation. Among “new activities, new programmes” he cited, there are activities in college campuses, in hostels, promotion of unlikely games including rugby, web-based groups exchanging information and a revamped website to cater to a completely new audience. There is a “newer, younger demographic” the RSS is now catering to, Madhav said. So perhaps the RSS volunteers who will spread the new message on swadeshi-meets-FDI will not even wear the RSS khaki shorts. There are already women members now. Madhav says their presence overseas has increased, mainly on account of the Internet. And their new pracharaks may not fight shy of spreading their message in a coffee shop or, dare we say it, a pub. From the spokesperson’s comments on FDI and on homosexuality at least, it does appear that the RSS is reinventing itself. Just how deep the change will be remains to be seen.