RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s observation that the BJP-led government erred in delaying engagement with protesting youths at Jantar Mantar is being seen in the Sangh Parivar circles as more than a comment on the current student agitation over the exam paper leaks. In the Sangh ecosystem, this actually fits a familiar pattern — the RSS publicly signalling its discomfort with the BJP dispensation’s handling of certain politically sensitive issues, while stopping short of any direct confrontation.
Addressing a youth event in Mumbai Thursday, Bhagwat said, “Kami to rahi hai” (there were shortcomings) when asked whether the government had delayed in initiating dialogue with youth protesters at Jantar Mantar. He argued that protest is a legitimate form of democratic dialogue, cautioned against branding young protesters as anti-national, and stressed that concerns over India’s education system were genuine and required engagement rather than dismissal.
“When something that should not happen, happens, then it is evident some mistake has been committed. Kami to rahi hai. It should have been done. We should also see that if Gen Z is protesting, it is not protesting because it is opposed to us. It is protesting because it is facing some problem. The solution to that problem must be found,” the RSS chief said.
Those familiar with the relationship between the RSS and the BJP say Bhagwat’s intervention is best understood in the context of the Sangh’s long-standing role as the ideological mentor that periodically urges its political arm towards course correction.
RSS as ‘corrective voice’
Unlike the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-era Sangh, the Mohan Bhagwat-led RSS rarely takes on the BJP government directly. Instead, its interventions typically acknowledge the government’s broad direction while identifying deficiencies in implementation, communication or political strategy.
That approach was evident during the farmers’ agitation during 2020-21 against the three now-repealed central farm laws, which had marked the last time the Narendra Modi government buckled under a movement’s pressure.
As farmers’ protests continued through 2020 and 2021, largely at Delhi’s borders, the government showed resistance in finding a resolution, with the deadlock persisting for months.
In January 2021, then RSS general secretary Bhaiyyaji Joshi openly underlined the need for a dialogue. “It is important to find that point where the two sides can agree and the agitation can end. Any agitation running for long is not beneficial… A middle ground must be found and both sides must work to find a solution,” he had then told The Indian Express in an interview.
The RSS leadership’s statement thus questioned the government’s inability to politically resolve the crisis. Ten months later, Prime Minister Modi announced the repeal of all three laws.
Message after 2024 polls
The 2024 Lok Sabha elections saw the BJP fall short of a majority with its tally dropping from 303 to 240 seats, marking the first time in a decade that the party had to rely on its NDA allies to form a government.
Days after the poll results, Bhagwat remarked that a true sevak does not become arrogant and works within limits without pushing others. “A true sevak operates within decorum… he does not get attached, is not arrogant that this has been done by me. Only he can be called a sevak,” he said.
Although he did not mention the BJP, the RSS Sarsanghchalak’s remarks were widely read as a message to its leadership after the party’s setback. Its timing amplified such an interpretation. It came soon after then BJP president J P Nadda suggested in an interview with The Indian Express that the BJP had become organisationally self-sufficient and no longer depended on the RSS in the way it once had.
Bhagwat’s comments were thus seen not merely as a moral observation but also as a reminder that electoral strength had not altered the ideological hierarchy within the Sangh Parivar.
LGBTQ rights
Bhagwat has also, at times, steered the broader conservative discourse in directions different from the BJP’s stances.
In 2013, senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh had opposed decriminalising homosexuality, describing it as “unnatural”.
A decade later, Bhagwat articulated a markedly different position. In January 2023, he argued that homosexuality was a biological reality, rooted his argument in Indian civilisational traditions, and said the LGBTQ deserved dignity and their own private space in society.
Drawing upon the story of Jarasandha’s generals Hans and Dimbhaka, the RSS chief suggested that people with same-sex orientation had always existed in India and that society should accommodate them rather than ostracise them. “The RSS wants them to have their own private space and to feel that they, too, are a part of society,” he said.
Shifting dynamics
These interventions underline the evolving nature of the RSS-BJP ties during the tenure of the Modi government.
Since 2014, the BJP has expanded dramatically, becoming electorally dominant and institutionally stronger than at any point in its history. The BJP central leadership exercises far greater autonomy now than earlier times, reducing their day-to-day organisational dependence on the RSS.
At the same time, the RSS has sought to preserve its role as the Parivar’s ideological fountainhead rather than just a political manager. Instead of intervening in routine governance matters, it reserves public comments for occasions when it believes that the political leadership might be drifting away from their organisational ethos or losing touch with social sentiments.
That explains why Bhagwat’s latest remarks have attracted wide attention as he has sought to again position the RSS as the BJP’s moral compass — one that periodically reminds its political arm that public legitimacy depends as much on dialogue and responsiveness as on electoral victories.
As one senior RSS functionary put it, “The BJP has come from the RSS and not the other way round. Before the BJP, there was another party spawned by the RSS. The RSS has been there for 100 years and will be there for the next 100 years. What Bhagwat ji says is in the role of a guardian. If a swayamsevak, despite having the best intentions, is making mistakes, it is the Sarsanghchalak’s job to correct him. Ultimately, it is all in the family.”
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat addresses students during an India International Movement to Unite Nations (IIMUN) event in Mumbai, India, Thursday. (AP Photo) 
Share
