Jan Sangh founder had warned RSS of losing shine: Book

He also says that the RSS also doesn’t listen to him.

Nanaji Deshmukh’s book Viraat Purush Nanaji.

Nanaji Deshmukh, who was among the founders of Bhartiya Jan Sangh (BJS) and quit politics after emergency, had warned leaders of Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) that BJS, an earlier version of BJP, was transforming and losing its shine as a party with difference. He had said BJS, a “party of workers”, had become “party of leaders”.

Several such facts are contained in the compilation of Nanaji’s works titled Viraat Purush Nanaji, accessed by The Indian Express. The six-volume set will be released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Vigyan Bhawan Saturday. The compilation is edited by Atul Jain and published by Prabhat Prakashan.

In a reference to the situation in Uttar Pradesh in 1967, when late Chaudhary Charan Singh left the Congress to join others to form government, Nanaji writes, “Everybody put responsibility on me to bring Chaudhary Charan Singh out of the Congress and to make him the Chief Minister. I committed that mistake and the consequences were just as I had predicted. Our party lost the image of a party with difference…Our people rose as important leaders but we were neither able to retain our image, nor was our organisation able to remain the same. Party of workers was converted into a party of leaders.”

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Some of Nanaji’s letters reflect that on many occasions his views were ignored by the BJS as well as the RSS. Volume 5 titled “Rashtra Rishi Nanaji” has a letter which he wrote to then General Secretary late Prof. Rajendra Singh (Rajju Bhaiya) in November 1984. He refers to the situation in 1971 when the BJS fought elections in alliance with other parties. He writes, “That time also we contested with others because we were driven with a new desire of becoming a ruling party. Our leaders’ view was that we will not be successful alone. I prepared a paper then as well, but it was ignored. I prepared another paper just before the 1980 elections which also reached to same fate.”

He also says that the RSS also doesn’t listen to him. He writes, “I have views about the RSS work as well. I transcribed those views and handed it over to senior functionaries. I gave one such paper on March 15, 1980 and another one on July 16, 1981. But both the papers were ignored. I have realised that our senior functionaries consider my views as useless.”

In another letter to Rajju Bhaiya on July 22, 1986, he writes, “Sangh would have attracted youth of the country and it would have become a place of peoples’ desire if we were able to spread our aim mentioned in our prarthna (RSS’s daily prayer) to the social life…I am writing this letter because the daily shakha of RSS have become outdated accustoms.”

Shyamlal Yadav

Shyamlal Yadav is one of the pioneers of the effective use of RTI for investigative reporting. He is a member of the Investigative Team. His reporting on polluted rivers, foreign travel of public servants, MPs appointing relatives as assistants, fake journals, LIC’s lapsed policies, Honorary doctorates conferred to politicians and officials, Bank officials putting their own money into Jan Dhan accounts and more has made a huge impact. He is member of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). He has been part of global investigations like Paradise Papers, Fincen Files, Pandora Papers, Uber Files and Hidden Treasures. After his investigation in March 2023 the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York returned 16 antiquities to India. Besides investigative work, he keeps writing on social and political issues. ... Read More

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