RSS has left Modi embarrassed before 2017 Assembly elections

If Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat had kicked up a political storm with a controversial statement on the eve of the Bihar Assembly elections, propelling the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) out of the race, it is his junior colleague Manmohan Vaidya putting his foot in the mouth with the election season in full swing in the politically more crucial Uttar Pradesh.

Just as Bhagwat’s controversial remark against the country’s reservation policy proved detrimental to the BJP's fate in Bihar, Vaidya’s suggestion that the reservation policy merits a review could cost the party dear.

Replying to a question at the Jaipur Literature Festival, Vaidya said on Friday: “Reservations for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes was introduced in the Constitution to remedy the historical injustice done to them. But even Ambedkar did no advocate for its indefinite continuance. There should be a time limit to it.”

Vaidya felt that instead of continuing with reservations, there was a need to provide equal opportunity to the downtrodden in education and other fields. He was of the view that an indefinite reservation policy will promote social strife and sectarianism.

No sooner had the statement hit the headlines, than the entire BJP went into damage control by claiming that Vaidya was “misquoted” by the media. However, the footage showing Vaidya spelling out precisely what was being publicised makes one wonder whether the utterance was orchestrated to embarrass Modi, who is out to woo the people of Uttar Pradesh where he has major stakes.

Many do not rule out the possibility of the RSS Hindutva brigade being unhappy with the manner in which Modi has been sidelining the extreme rightwing lumpen elements.

Hardcore RSS activists have been heard complaining about Modi not giving them their due. What seems to be most surprising is that the RSS continues to credit itself with Modi’s spectacular win of 73 of UP’s 80 Lok Sabha seats in the general elections, when fact remains that it was the Modi magic that did it.

The entire saffron brigade loves to believe so; but for them Modi would not have been able to ride the crest of a popularity wave in 2014. What was even worse is that Modi’s own close confidante and BJP chief Amit Shah also chooses to give the impression that it was “Hindu polarisation” that took BJP to an all-time high in 2014.

Independent political analysts, however, firmly believe that Modi’s systematic shunning of any reference to Hindutva miraculously extended his reach far beyond the limits of extreme right-wing influence.

There is no doubt communal polarisation took place in the pockets of Western UP where the bloody Muzaffarnagar riots did forge a sharp divide between Hindus and Muslims. Surely, that did not appear to be true of other vast expanse of UP. After all, it was not the traditional BJP vote bank that propelled Modi to a record win.

It was the huge add-on that came in the form of youth cutting across caste lines which gave Modi the surge. He had evidently impressed a huge crop of young voters who saw hope for fulfillment of their long-cherished aspirations in what was promised by this man, who sought to showcase what he had achieved in his home state Gujarat.

What added to the charisma he managed to build around himself was the absence of a serious competitor. The rival, Rahul Gandhi, proved to be no match - and enabled Modi to take the cake with perfect ease.

Yet, his blue-eyed boy Amit Shah chose to systematically spread the word that the victory was solely because of his success with polarisation. Sure enough, it also helped Shah hog the credit for the “magic” following which he also managed to hijack the coveted position of party president from an otherwise more formidable contender JPNadda.

To prove himself right, Shah decided to entrust the party’s campaign for the bye-elections that followed later in 2014 to the rabble-rousing BJP MP from Gorakhpur, Yogi Adityanath.

The result gave a jolt to the BJP, which lost eight out of 11 seats that went to the polls. A shrewd Shah made it a point to play that down. Yet, he did not restrain his cronies or the other lumpen elements in the party from raking up issues like “ghar wapsi”, “love jihad” and “beef” that ignited incidents like Mohammad Akhlaq's lynching in Dadri.

Even though Modi’s reaction to all such incidences was either subdued or delayed, he refrained from encouraging the perpetrators – something that was not palatable to the hardcore right wing elements.

Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) chief Praveen Togadia was quite open about his criticism of Modi’s subtle drift from hardcore Hindutva, and RSS activists insist on crediting themselves with the rise of BJP and the success of Modi.

Under the circumstances, it may not be far-fetched to assume that RSS spokesman Manmohan Vaidya’s controversial observations on reservation could be just another design to dent a moderately-inclined Modi's image. It could not have been an off-the-cuff remark.

After all, Vaidya ought to be fully aware of the consequences BJP had to suffer on account of similar comments made by Bhagwat ahead of the Bihar Assembly polls.

Vaidya’s remark has already given a handle to not only the backward-dominated Samajwadi Party, but also the Dalit-based Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) to train their guns at Modi, on whom rests the destiny of the BJP in the country’s most populous state.

And who does not know that the outcome of the 2017 Assembly poll in UP could well determine the destiny of Modi in 2019? In that light, Vaidya’s remark was the last thing one would expect.

Isn't it therefore just enough reason to suspect a design behind what the RSS bigwig has done?