Political Journey of RSS

 Golwalkar considered the nation as a more important phenomenon than the state. Nation, in Golwalkar’s thought, reflected the civil society which in turn was the manifestation of Hindutva. The purpose of every Hindu was considered to be that of building a Hindu nation-state or Hindu Rashtra. To achieve this end Golwalkar felt that politics was secondary and less important. In his own words: “We try to build life without being wedded to politics. It is many times found that many are gathered for political purpose. But when that purpose fails, unity is lost. We do not want any temporary achievement but an abiding oneness. And so we have kept ourselves aloof from politics”.

Golwalkar emphasized the need of treating man as the pivot of all thought process and basic unit in the task of national reconstruction and social transformation. He did not support the idea of promoting any political party himself. He was of the view that to think and work for the society as a whole, one should not think in terms of part or party. In his opinion, no political party could have a comprehensive holistic approach towards society. In his view, it was an inherent handicap for the political parties whose indulgence in electoral politics was inevitable. Political parties would definitely attach more importance to themselves and strive for their own growth. He observed that most parties could not but get involved in electoral politics without the consciousness of wider national interest they fought electoral battles steadfastly adhering to the partisan interests. Even the service activities conducted by the political parties got entangled in the cobweb of partisan interest. The discipline found in the working of the parties was suspect because it was there for the furtherance of party interests, at times even at the cost of national interests. In his view, it was impossible to rise above the partisan interest.

Golwalkar stated that if one expected all tasks to be discharged by the state, then one would have to surrender all the rights and be ready to vest them in the state. By vesting all the rights in the state the citizens would be, in effect, providing for a totalitarian state. He raised the basic question as to whether the country would progress if a few well-meaning persons became ministers. His opinion was in the negative. In his view, there were some basic pre-requisites for the task of nation rebuilding. The first was elevating the level of consciousness of the common man in the country. If the level of consciousness was high, it would act as a deterrent to erring political leaders. In his words: “If there is no check of enlightened public opinion upon the people in power, then people in power are prone to succumb to glamour and profligacy of power”.

The second important requisite was the need of autonomous, self-dependent mass organizations in various fields of national life. The mass organizations would act as social deterrents only if they functioned independent of political power. According to Golwalkar, men with zeal and dedication, manning the state power, would submit to the enlightened public opinion. In his words: “Our society had never been led by people in power. People in power were treated as leaders wielding state power. Some other wielding economic power were having their own role, not dependent on the state power, but there was a third category of leadership superior to the earlier two. That was moral leadership. These leaders in the society enjoyed the confidence and recognition in the minds of people due to their statesmanship, character, dedicated life, sharp intellect, compassion and concern for the society. Due to the dominance of such moral leadership alone, the society has survived for millennium as a Rashtra”. He subscribed to the idea of control of the state machinery by an external organization. This external organization would be the repository of the nation’s best ideas.

Golwalkar has organized the RSS in line with this conviction. However, within the RSS two views distinctly opposed to one another in respect of entering politics fought on a theoretical level to influence the organization’s line of action. Few younger swayamsevaks (volunteers) seemed to have supported the idea, of entering politics just after the ban on the RSS was lifted in 1949. The first issue of the ‘Organiser’ published after the lifting of the ban contained an article entitled ‘The RSS. and Politics’ by C. Parameswaran (Organiser Aug. 22, 1949). The next issue contained an article by Balaraj Madhok on the same topic (Ibid, Aug. 30, 1949). These articles were followed in 1949 by a series authored by K.R. Malkani on the ‘Sangh and Growing Statism’ (Ibid, Nov. 23, 1949), and in early 1950 an artical by Dadarao Parmarth appeared on the political role of the RSS

Madhok called on the RSS to save the nation: “So far the Sangh has confined its activities to the social and cultual field with the object of creating much needed unity and national character in the country on the basis of Indian culture and ideals .... But there are other problems whose proper handling and solution is as vital to the national health as unity and character. They are mainly political and economic which the Sangh has decided not to touch. It is necessary that the Sangh must give the lead to the country in regard to the political and economic problems of the country as well. It is essential for the very existence of the Sangh itself. Any institution or organization of the people which fails to guide its component parts about the vital questions influencing their lives is bound to lose the driving force which keeps any organization alive” (Ibid, Sept. 6, 1949).

Such was the reasoning which induced the RSS to take a plunge into politics. India needed not only Indian culture and religion but, in order for these to flourish, a Indian political and economic system as well. In Parameswaran’s language the true guardian of the Indian culture was the RSS and the opponents of the RSS were ‘anti-Dharmic’ (Ibid, Aug. 22, 1949). K. R. Malkani wrote that the ‘only way to restore dharma’ was ‘by putting the shoulder to the political wheel.’ (Ibid, Dec. 7, 1949).

However, many of the older ‘swayamsevaks’ seemed to have opposed the political enthusiasm of the younger ones apparently Golwalkar himself sided with them. He was not at all enthusiastic about the direction chosen by the younger members to give the RSS a political orientation. The differences within the organization led to the occasional contradictions in the statements of the leaders. For example, the RSS General Secretary, Bhayyaji Dani, stated categorically that there would be no RSS participation in the elections (Ibid, Oct. 9, 1950). Two weeks later, he was found to be repeating the standard line about the RSS saving the nation and implying, at least, that this solution must come from political activity (Ibid, Oct. 23, 1950).

As the elections approached the atmosphere in the country hotted up all the more. With the advent of independence, politics had become the be-all and end-all of public life. Even within the Sangh circle there was a conflict of ideas. From outside as well as from inside Golwalkar came under pressure from those who held that the Sangh should play a positive role in politics also. During the ban period, Sardar Patel had himself urged upon this, but Golwalkar had remained firm in his stand. After the ban was lifted many Sangh workers were also thinking whether it was possible to keep away from politics? Golwalkar had answered such questions very logically and stressed the need for a selfless cultural organisation that would keep itself away from party and power politics.

Because of this rapid series of events, a section of Sangh workers as well as other nationalistic elements began to strongly feel the need for a nationalistic political party. This turmoil led to some Sangh workers of Jalandhar in Punjab setting up Bharatiya Jana Sangh. About the same time, Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherji also started a branch of the Jana Sangh in Bengal. He met Golwalkar repeatedly to urge that the Sangh should extend its full co-operation to the new political party. Golwalkar remained firm as ever that the Sangh should not plunge into politics. He nevertheless did not think it proper to suppress the workers’ desire to participate in politics. So, he while keeping the organisation fully aloof from politics he gave the workers the freedom to enter the political field.