What is the difference between the RSS and Shiv Sena? Or rather, what is common between them? Both advocate militant Hindutva. Both have saffron flags.
Both have shakhas and shakha-pramukhs. Both are cadre-bases organisations. Both have a supreme leader Sarsanghachalak for the RSS and Shivsena Pramukh in the Shiv Sena.
Both the organisations are stridently anti-Muslim. And passionately anti-Pakistan. Both would be happy to obliterate Pakistan from the map. Both often publicly, but certainly privately, support Nathuram Godse.
Both are strongly anti-Congress and particularly anti-Nehru-Gandhi family/legacy. Both believe in violence. Both have the same icons Shivaji Maharaj and Swatantryaveer Savarkar.
And yet, often they are not on the same wavelength. The ruckus and the mayhem witnessed in and outside the Assembly on Wednesday could have been avoided if there was some deft intervention by the RSS chief.
The question is why the “natural” allies fell apart and totally “unnatural” bedfellows, the NCP and the BJP, came together for a live-in relationship.
Theirs is not a marriage and, in fact, the BJP has denied any kind of promiscuous relationship. In fact, Mr Pawar has stated publicly that it is only for a limited time like a sort of one-night stand! With a “natural” ally like the Shiv Sena in the Opposition, and completely unreliable partner to keep the government in the saddle, it is rather obvious that the government will not complete the 60-month Test match and may convert itself into a political ODI.
But even if the marriage is restored, will it provide a stable government or it will again go the Titanic way? What nobody has really answered, beyond the psychoanalysis of Mr Thackeray, is as to why the marriage collapsed.
There are some conspiracy theories and some gossip. One of them is a kind of a “private treaty” between Mr Pawar and Modi.
The terms of treaty being worked out by a common friend of both Gautam Adani. The treaty will provide protection to NCP leaders accused of corruption and sustenance to the government in the state.
There is also a theory that Mr Modi and Amit Shah do not want a strong and stable government in the state. That can reduce Mr Modi’s leverage.
Then there are confirmed reports that many in the state BJP wanted the alliance to stay, but Mr Modi did not want “political decentralisation”, because that would strengthen the local leadership.
All the formulae proposed by the state leadership for a compromise with the Sena were shot down by
Mr Shah. Both Mr Modi and Mr Shah want to decimate regional parties. Without that “One Country-One People-One Culture” policy cannot be implemented.
The idea of “unity in diversity” was a Nehruvian concept and must be removed from political consciousness. Mr Modi wants “unity without diversity”.
That is why he keeps on repeating the notion of 125 crore people. This approach suits the Chanakyas of Nagpur. The “Hindu Idea” must not get diluted by things like Marathi Manoos!
And yet Mr Modi is not a puppet of the RSS. The Sangh Parivar also fears that Mr Modi and his totalitarian approach could one day marginalise them. Mr Modi wants to convert India into a kind of Hindu America, with 100 modern cities, bullet trains, and highways.
The NRI following of Mr Modi is mainly for this project of Hindu America. It is a mix of strident Hinduism with equally strident consumerism. The lower middle class world view of the RSS does not endorse this. But they recognise that Mr Modi is the only asset they have.
Therefore, there is truce between the two lines. Mr Modi will take political command. The RSS will concentrate on education, Ayurveda, yoga and try to inculcate medievalism in the 21st century.
Mr Modi will also propagate the absurd ideas of plastic surgery and genetic research in ancient India and sanction FDI in all sectors. The frenzy that Mr Modi has generated is also a reflection of the new middle class which wants Baba Ramdev and Rambo in one combo.
This effort of uniting Holy Ganga with unholy donuts, yoga with Coca Cola will perfectly match the NRI. But the NRI perspective would not be able to reconcile Naxal Gadchiroli and vibrant Gujarat. Nor does the RSS have the Hindu formula to resolve that.
Just as cultural nationalism cannot go with corporate nationalism beyond a point, the so-called Hindu Identity cannot accommodate the multiple identities in India.
If the Modi-Shah team and the RSS cannot co-opt Shiv Sena, how will they deal with the Akali pride or Telugu identity or the Islamic or Christian ethos? Winning J&K elections is not the same as winning Kashmiriyat.
Any effort to straight-jacket India could implode the way Soviet Union did. We are already in that tunnel and the light at the end is a train heading towards us!
The writer is a journalist and political commentator
