Not all is well between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its progenitor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ever since the 2024 Lok Sabha election results came out. RSS national executive member Indresh Kumar on Thursday indicted the saffron party for its "arrogance" and the opposition for being "anti-Ram".
Kumar did not name the rivals but suggested that the poll outcome reflected their attitudes. "The party which did the bhakti (of Lord Ram) but became arrogant was stopped at 241 but it was made the biggest party," he said at the Ramrath Ayodhya Yatra Darshan Poojan Samaroh at Kanota near Jaipur.
Not only did Indresh Kumar take a veiled dig at the BJP, the opposition INDIA bloc was also not spared.
"See the 'Vidhan' of Ram Rajya in democracy; those who did 'Bhakti (worshipped) of Ram but gradually turned arrogant, that party emerged as the biggest party, but the vote and power that should have been given was stopped by God due to their arrogance," he said. He added Lord Ram protected people and did good to Ravana too.
Narendra Modi-led BJP got 240 seats in the Lok Sabha elections on its own and was bolstered by allies like Janata Dal (United), Telugu Desam Party and Shiv Sena to 293. The INDIA bloc, led by the Congress, won 234 seats in the general elections.
RSS article on why BJP didn't get expected Lok Sabha election results
The remark came days after the latest issue of RSS magazine Organiser came out. Ratan Sharda, a life-long member of the Hindu nationalist volunteer organisation, said that the RSS did its bit but the BJP members were complacent.
Sharda said that the election results came as a reality check for "overconfident BJP karyakartas and many of its leaders." He further mentioned that the BJP did not seek assistance from RSS cadre in this election. In his piece, Sharda also said that the biggest issue BJP or RSS workers and common citizens had was that the local MPs or MLAs were inaccessible.
"The biggest grouse of any BJP or RSS worker and common citizen for years have been difficulty or even impossibility of meeting the local MP or MLA, forget Ministers. Insensitivity to their problems is another dimension. Why are BJP elected MPs and Ministers always 'busy'? Why are they never visible in their constituencies? Why is it so difficult to respond to messages?" Sharda wrote in his piece.
Did alliance with Ajit Pawar cost Maharashtra?
Not only this, Sharda also said that joining hands with the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Conference Party (NCP) was "unnecessary politicking", especially when the BJP and the split Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde had a comfortable majority. He added that this step also hurt BJP supporters immensely as they fought against this ideology for years and were persecuted.
RSS chief doesn't pull punches
Not only Indresh Kumar and Ratan Sharda, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat didn't pull any punches as well. In a recent address, Bhagwat spoke about the "shrill" election campaign. In an indirect attack on the BJP, Bhagwat said a true 'sevak' is not arrogant and serves the people while maintaining dignity.
Furthermore, he suggested that decorum was not maintained by either side during the campaigning, while adding even the RSS was dragged into the mudslinging match. "The way in which people abuse each other, misuse technology, and spread fake news during election campaigns is not right," the RSS chief said.
(With agency inputs)