RSS SAYS ‘NO’ TO CHANGE
The buzz in the media was that the RSS, at the triennial meeting of its highest decisionmaking body, the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha, in Nagpur last week, would appoint Dattatreya Hosabale as its new general secretary. Such a move was supposed to have been welcomed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with whom Hosabale is said to be closely aligned. In the event, the RSS retained its present general secretary, the septuagenarian Suresh ‘Bhaiyyaji’ Joshi, for a fourth term.
In its last gathering in 2015, the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha had made the decision to discard the khaki shorts, so synonymous with the RSS, in favour of trousers. While substituting Hosabale for Joshi may have been a less dramatic change, the possibility had apparently caused a flutter of excitement and tension within the organisation.
As many as 1,500 RSS delegates attended the meeting and the vote of confidence in Joshi was said to be a conservative choice, a decision intended to maintain continuity. Hosabale has been retained as a joint general secretary, one of six, including the newly appointed Manmohan Vaidya, former communication in-charge. This is the highest number of joint general secretaries in the RSS history, and some within the organisation still wonder whether failing to promote Hosabale makes strategic sense, given his connections with the government, as India approaches a general election next year.
Hosabale and Joshi are very different men. Joshi is apparently not a fan of Modi’s personal style, though he is appreciative of the substance of the prime minister’s attempts to reform Indian politics and the seriousness with which he takes the RSS agenda. Hosabale has occasionally been critical of Modi in RSS circles, but is much more readily identified as a supporter of the prime minister’s policies and political goals.
According to an insider, the RSS saw no reason to change its general secretary given that its communication with the Modi government was open, the relationship much stronger than with the government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Appointing Hosabale, the insider said, might have been seen as moving too close to the government. Despite its influence on the BJP, the RSS likes to maintain that it’s a cultural rather than political organisation. As the RSS enters a significant phase, including a possible Supreme Court verdict on the Ayodhya dispute—“the temple will be built”, Joshi asserted in his first press conference after his re-election— Joshi represents stability, a safe pair of hands.
Appointing Hosabale might have been seen as moving too close to the government