Today in Politics: Are BJP, RSS not in lockstep with each other?

As ministers, new and old, in the third Narendra Modi-led government settle down and the BJP gets on with the business of starting the review of its election performance, there is likely to be a sense of disquiet in the ruling party. And the reason is not the Opposition but something much closer home: the RSS.

This week, the RSS leadership has twice made sharp comments about the BJP. After RSS sarsaghchalak Mohan Bhagwat said earlier this week that a “true Sevak” does not have “ahankar (arrogance)” and criticised the way the elections were contested, senior RSS leader Indresh Kumar has been quoted as saying, “Those who worshipped Lord Ram but became arrogant were stopped at 241.” It was a clear reference to the BJP that won 240 Lok Sabha seats.

Though, as Deeptiman Tiwary reported, the RSS has distanced itself from Kumar’s statement and said they do not represent its views, there is a sense among all this that the Sangh and the BJP are not exactly in sync, at least not as much as they would like to. As a source told Liz Mathew earlier this week after the RSS chief’s comments, “This kind of public expression means there is a problem in communication between the Sangh and the party. Bhagwatji rarely criticises the BJP leaders publicly.”

An initial assessment by BJP leaders has pointed to three broad reasons for the party’s below-par performance in the key heartland states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Haryana. And one of those is poor election management, a surprising failure of the BJP’s famed poll juggernaut. This resulted in an unenthusiastic cadre and, in turn, dented the BJP’s ability to mobilise its voters.

As a senior BJP leader explained to Liz, one of the things that hurt the party is that it “lost steam” when it