Modi sends olive branch to RSS by lifting 1966 ban
Image credit X.com @RSSOrg
BJP-RSS relations in spotlight amid DoPT order
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, July 22: The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) removed the mention of the Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh (RSS) from an office memo which banned government employees from joining the political outfits. The order of the DoPT was issued early this month, but was made public on Monday.
“RSS has been continuously involved in the reconstruction of the nation and service to the society for the last 99 years. Due to the contribution of the Sangh in national security, unity-integrity and taking the society along in times of natural disaster, the role of the Sangh has been praised by various types of leaders of the country from time to time,” said Sunil Ambekar, the communication department head of the RSS in a video message on Monday.
Ambekar stated that the then government due to its political interests, had “baselessly banned government employees from participating in the activities of a constructive organization like the Sangh”. “The current decision of the government is appropriate and strengthens the democratic system of India,” added Ambekar.
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The Congress, however, pointed out that the office memo which banned participation of the government employees in the RSS activities had also mentioned Jamat-e-Islami. The fresh office memo of the DoPT doesn’t mention Jamat-e-Islami, pointed out the Congress leaders in their messages posted on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
Interestingly, it took over 10 years for Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre to amend the office memo of the DoPT, which was issued in 1966. The decision has come ahead of the centenary commemoration of the founding of the RSS in 1925.
While the DoPT memo had been in existence for several decades, the government employees at the Centre and the states are widely known to have joined the ranks of the RSS, and also participated in its activities.
The Rajya Sabha Chairman, Jagdeep Dhankar, while presiding over a sitting of the Upper House, had richly praised the RSS. Dhankar had praised the RSS for “nation-building” activities, while calling the outfit a patriotic organisation.
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But the relations of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP and the RSS had far from being warm. The BJP is among 37 organisations linked with the RSS. The BJP is widely known as the political avatar of the RSS.
The post of the BJP national general secretary (organisation) is held by a full-time RSS pracharak. This is replicated in the state units of the BJP. The incumbent in this post generally gets a longer tenure to helm the organisational affairs of the BJP.
But the Lok Sabha elections 2024 appear to have driven a wedge between the BJP and the RSS. The BJP president, Jagat Prakash Nadda, in an interview had claimed that the party was now strong enough to contest elections on its own and was no more dependent on the RSS.
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On the other hand, the RSS supremo Mohan Bhagwat in his first remarks after the Lok Sabha elections had spotlighted the Manipur violence. He had said that Manipur was still awaiting peace. The remarks were seen as criticism of Mod-led BJP government at the Centre.
Bhagwat has afterwards also made remarks which had widely been linked to his unhappiness with Modi. The Congress has been overboard linking Bhagwat’s remarks as his condemnation of the style of functioning of Modi.
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