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Narendra Modi: RSS, Ideology and Politics

Sudhanshu Tripathi - 2/8/2012

Of late, Narendra Modi’s stature in Indian politics has assumed considerable significance despite few controversies associated with his role in post Godhara riots in 2002 in Gujarat and also because of his working style which is marked by strict discipline, uncompromising and tough attitude and upholding the rule of law.

His upbringing within Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and its ideology of nationalism, humanism and social service etc. has inculcated in him the qualities of a perfect statesman committed and devoted to the cause of public welfare, particularly the weaker and down trodden sections of society. His membership in various other organisations under the banner of RSS has further imparted and also moulded his mind set, personal integrity and character in accordance with the true spirit of eternal values thereby giving a new and sharp focus to his politics. As a result, Modi stands today as a perfect epitome of fair, responsive and responsible administration and, therefore, a good and viable option to the post of Prime minister in India.

As the present UPA-II Government led by Congress party has not only been questioned but also severely indicted by the Indian Supreme Court many a times over in several cases of corruption like 2-G spectrum allocation, Common Wealth Games scam, Hasan Ali money laundering case, Aadarsh Housing Society case and countless many other scams, together, perhaps, the biggest ever in the known history of world accounting for trillions of rupees, evidently, looted from common man’s pocket, this Government under PM Manmoham Singh has repeatedly failed to come out fair & clean, thereby loosing legitimacy. Instead, it has been trying its best to not only shield and protect the cases of corruption under its dispensation and also its corrupt ministers and officers, but it has also been wholeheartedly absolving them from all such cases for ever. Against this backdrop, the on-going election process for state assemblies in some of the states including UP, Uttarakhanda, Punjab, MP etc., which in fact, is the fore runner for the 2014 Lok Sabha election, offer the good prospects for regime change because people at large are now fed up with such deep rooted malpractices and unimaginable corruptions as prevailing in the UPA Government.

Under this scenario, Modi’s popularity appears consistently rising due to his multidimensional personality and exceptional dynamism reflecting his firmness, self-confidence and commitment thereby making him a perfectly suitable choice to the high office as against Sri Lal Krishna Advani, who is also a potential contender to this post because being a very senior leader and belonging to the stature of the former popular leader Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee and also having good experience of working as Deputy PM of India. But Modi, in the present context, stands ahead to Advani owing to various reasons like his young age, daring and dashing personality, will to deter anti- social elements, criminals and also terrorists. Other qualities like strict discipline, self-less service and sacrifice, fearlessness, firm determination and to serve the downtrodden and poor irrespective of caste, creed, religion and community etc. are the by-products of his full time association with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) - an association working truly for national service, fully committed to the cause of welfare and progress of the whole society, particularly, with the avowed aim of serving the common cause of all sections of society in India.

Unfortunately RSS has always been castigated by rulers of India before and after independence as a communal, fascist and sometimes even extremist organisation since its inception because it is the only nationalist organisation in India which, in fact, puts country or nation above all and service of the nation as a true religion. Of course, such pure nationalism would not have been liked by all those either within India or abroad who are only running always after their narrow and partisan or vested interests and don’t want any country to come up to the surface to challenge their monopoly in the world and, for this end, several destabilising tactics have been devised and practised by them, terrorism including global terrorism being the most effective and successful one. For such countries, the Treaty of Westphalia of 1648 is simply a waste paper to be thrown into the dustbin as it stands for “sovereign equality of nation states”.

As to attack upon this global menace in an extraordinarily heavy manner, Modi has shown his exemplary courage in his fight against terrorism while serving as the Chief Minister of Gujarat. As he once commented:”Terrorism is worse than a war. A terrorist has no rules. A terrorist decides when, how, where and whom to kill. India has lost more people in terror attacks than in its wars.” Hence he repeatedly advocated to the Centre to enact tough laws against terrorism and criticised the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh "for his reluctance to revive anti-terror legislations" like the Prevention of Terrorism Act. He asked the Centre to empower states to invoke tougher laws in the wake of the blasts in Mumbai. Because for him, there is no second choice vis-a-vis terrorism except to crush it with an iron hand. It is well known to the whole world that India is a soft state to which it is very proud of because of its so called modern and secular rulers who ruled India during the most of times since independence. As against this, Modi really advocates the true spirit of RSS’s ideology of a strong nation and he is committed to change such an insulting or derogatory notion attached to our country. And he has established Gujarat as a terror free state which is, indeed, a model to other states of the country and to the whole world as well. Besides terrorism, perhaps the biggest challenge which he had to face, when he took over as the Chief Minister, was the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the areas affected by the massive Earthquake in Gujarat in January 2001. His carefully chalked out and personally monitored rehabilitation programme won the hearts of not only aggrieved persons but also the entire countrymen as well as the whole world and also proved his excellent managerial skill.

His tenure as Chief Minister of Gujarat began on 7 October 2001, at a time when his predecessor Keshubhai Patel had resigned, following the defeat of BJP in the by-elections. In July 2007, he became the longest serving Chief Minister in Gujarat's history when he had been in power for 2063 days continuously. He was elected again for a third term on 23 December 2007 in the state elections, which he had cast as a "referendum on his rule". Having a deep passion and heart felt desire to serve the entire humanity particularly common people which reflects his vision, Modi, during his tenure as Chief Minister, has launched several people’s friendly programmes including almost all vital necessities of all sections of human population detailed as: Panchamrut Yojana, a five-pronged strategy for an integrated socio-economic development of Gujarat; Sujalam Sufalam, a scheme of water management and conservation to create a grid of water resources in Gujarat which is an innovative step towards water conservation and its appropriate utilization; Krishi Mahotsav, an agricultural research labs for the land development; Chiranjeevi Yojana, a programme for reducing infant mortality rate; Matru Vandana, for providing preventive and curative services under the Reproductive and Child Health Programme; Beti Bachao, a campaign against female infanticide to improve sex ratio; Jyotigram Yojana, for providing electricity to every village; Karmayogi Abhiyan, a programme to educate and train government employees; Kanya Kelavani Yojana, for encouraging female literacy and education; Balbhog Yojana, a scheme for Midday Meal for students to encourage school attendance from poor backgrounds. Going by the text of these programmes, one can easily understand his leanings and also commitment towards people’s welfare and their social, economic and cultural development. Indeed, these programmes are not only written on piece of papers but their implementation at ground level is personally supervised and monitored by Modi himself. Further, carrying on the spirit of development he has made institutional arrangements to attract foreign investors and for this purpose he regularly organises the Vibrant Gujarat programme- a biennial Global Investors' Summit held by the state Government in Gujarat, India. The event is aimed at bringing together business leaders, investors, corporations, thought leaders, policy and opinion makers; the summit is advertised as a platform to understand and explore business opportunities in the State of Gujarat which is being held continuously since 2003. As a result Gujrat, today, vies with other states as the best state in respect to all important indicators of social and economic progress & development like law and order, education, health, industrial & economic growth, infrastructural development, power and water availability including potable water etc. Evidently, right to dignity or dignified life particularly to common men is an important cause of concern for Modi.

His life today reflects his dynamism and action ie. karma, obviously, as a firm believer of Bhagawat Gita’s karma doctrine. Narendra Modi was born on 17th September 1950, to a middle class Modh family in Vadnagar in Mehsana District which then belonged to the state of Bombay in India. He completed his schooling in Vadnagar. He earned a master’s degree in Political Science from Gujarat University. Having deep rooted nationalist temper, even as a young boy, he volunteered to serve the soldiers in transit at railway stations during the Indo-Pak war in the mid-sixties. He has been continuing as a member of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh since his early youth and as a Pracharak of RSS during his university years. And he was also an active politician since early years of his life. As a young man, he joined the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), a student wing of RSS and was also involved in the anti-corruption Nav Nirman (‘Reconstruction’) Movement. It is no coincidence that Modi stands far ahead to Annaji as regards his fight against corruption. After working as a full time activist and organiser for the organization, he was later nominated as its representative in the BJP.

In1998, he was chosen by L K Advani, the prominent leader of the BJP, to direct the election campaign in Gujarat as well as Himachal Pradesh. He took up the challenging task of energizing the party cadres in right earnest and proved his merit. In partnership with another leader Shankarsingh Vaghela, Modi set about creating a strong cadre base in Gujarat. In the initial period, Vaghela was seen as a mass leader, while Modi was recognised as a master strategist capable of organising into strength even the most irregular and haphazard human conglomeration. It was due to Modi and such other leaders to his ilk, that the party started gaining political mileage and formed a coalition government at the center in April 1990. This partnership fell apart within a few months, but the BJP came to power with a two-thirds majority on its own in Gujarat in 1995. Since then, the BJP has been governing Gujarat in a consecutive manner.

During this period, Modi was entrusted with the responsibility of organizing two crucial national events, the Somnath to Ayodhya Rath Yatra (a political rally through India) of L K Advani and a similar march from Kanyakumari (the southernmost part of India) to Kashmir in the North. After the exit of Shankersingh Vaghela from the BJP, Keshubhai Patel was made Chief Minister while Narendra Modi was sent to New Delhi as a General Secretary of the Party. In 1995, Modi was appointed the National Secretary of the party and given the charge of five major states in India. In 1998, he was promoted as the General Secretary (Organization), a post he held until October 2001. In 2001, Narendra Modi was chosen by the party to be the Chief Minister of Gujarat after the removal of chief minister Keshubhai Patel.

Modi is known for leading a frugal lifestyle but tough in decision making and firm in its implementation. He has a personal staff of just three. He is known to be a workaholic Chief Minister and an introvert. Though mostly criticised as anti-muslim or only a pro-hindu communal leader, by all muslim fundamentalists and extremist elements and their organisations and also by the so called secularists and their cohorts like Mrs Sonia Gandhi and her Congress-I, Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party, Km. Mayawati’s, Bahujan Samaj Party and many more other trivial political parties emerged on the political landscape like a mushroom growth but these are basically the splinter groups of the erstwhile Congress Party and they have no clear and distinguishing ideology except narrow and partisan personal interests of their leaders. As against these, Modi can best be judged as regards his person and his ideological predilection’s focused on fair, impartial, and just values characterised by rule of law. As was seen, it was he who ordered the demolition of many Hindu temples that were built without proper government sanctions which earned him the ire of Vishwa Hindu Parishad- a global organisation of hindus for propagation of Hinduism and its religio-ethical and socio-cultural values, particularly, a firm belief in God along with peace, freedom, tolerance, love to all, equality, justice, brotherhood, welfare and prosperity to all.

Despite his amazing all round performance as a Chief Minister of Gujarat and also a party campaigner and a trouble shooter- thereby enhancing his prospects in the party and also among majority of people in the country for his appointment as PM of India- he faces a very tough challenge from the Muslim community which call him a monster who has committed unpardonable crimes against them and, therefore, must be brought to justice and even be killed,if their fatwa has any place in the country’s judicial system. He has also been described as an incendiary politician and a crowd puller, as a speaker and a dramatic, sardonic and churlish person which sometimes provokes and also hurts the sentiments of so called minority community. The few otherwise prominent politicians like Laloo Yadav or Sharad Yadav had commented that the BJP's projection of Modi as a future Prime Minister affected its performance in the Lok Sabha Election 2009, which, in fact, had no authentic basis and was a statement reflecting their frustration due to his rising popularity across all sections of society in India and also abroad. Furthermore, what worries most is the BJP’s own criticism of Modi which will certainly hamper his prospects. Nonetheless, Modi has also been making serious efforts to convert his image from a firebrand Hindu Nationalist politician to an able and competent administrator thereby making himself to be worthy of impending responsibility and also to his politics which he wants to hold in accordance with true values of Hindu Rashastra (Hindu Nation) and social service as underlined the ideology of RSS.