Modi govt does its master’s bidding

Ahead of the Teachers' Day celebrations, even as the schools in New Delhi and across the country are gearing up for their "Guru Poona Mahotsav," the members of the Central Cabinet began meeting their real Masters – the RSS and its affiliates – 93 in all.

• Ministers appear before RSS top brass for appraisal
• RSS talk of keeping distance from govt all empty talk

Thus the “ideological NITI Aayog” of the country under the present dispensation, the RSS, also regarded as the think-tank of the party or its supreme senate, began its appraisal of their students performance. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat is in the midst of the three-day assessment of the government performance.

Top on the agenda is the evaluation of the performance of the government in the key sectors and the impact on social sectors. The list out in the open now indicates that there are two different categories to this. One is regarding the policy issues – of education, labour, reforms, defence, internal security, foreign policy etc.

The other is about the major issues rocking the country and the 'whys' and hows of it'. These include the OROP, labour unrest, stalemate in Parliament, Bihar Elections etc. The Ministers were asked to do their homework well in coming face-to-face with the think-tank members and also be prepared to answer all the queries.

It would not have raised much hackles if the Ministers were to sit in meetings with the other NITI Aayog headed by Aravind Panagaria to discuss the road map of the country. But, here is an "open exercise" in an open defiance of the norms and convention of governance by the BJP leadership in attending the brainstorming sessions.

A government has every right and also a duty to discuss its programmes and policies in its own fora but, a meeting of the Ministers' outside the Cabinet and in the presence of the right wing RSS is leading to concern in the Opposition.

The BJP general secretary and a RSS nominee, Ram Madhav, dismissed the Opposition criticism as unwarranted and defended the three-day session as a meeting to discuss national matters like national security, agriculture growth and social issues and not to discuss the government's performance. Everyone knows that the RSS has an agenda on all these subjects.

What is clear is this. The Modi Cabinet members of the BJP have not been summoned to the RSS headquarters at Nagpur to discuss their view. It chose to make New Delhi the venue of the same in full public glare. Only the naive would believe in what the RSS claims its relationship with the government is – an observer and an adviser.

The Sanghatan has cleared all the cobwebs in this regard to indicate that, if necessary, it would not confine itself to its headquarters but move over to the capital to “INTERFERE.” There cannot be any bigger political statement than this.

Among the Ministers who were summoned by this supreme senate of the BJP headed by Mohan Bhagawat were Union Miniters Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Manohar Parikar, Nitin Gadkari, Venkaiah Naidu, Ananth Kumar and J P Nadda on the first day. Smriti Zubin Irani etc attended the meeting today.

Trepidation was writ large on their faces as they walked out of the meeting. Bharatiya Shikshan Mandal (BSM), an RSS affiliate, which has been asked by the RSS to formulate a proper educational policy befitting the 5,000-year-old Indian culture and as its tribute, cross-examined Smriti Irani on Thursday.

It is presenting its policy paper before the next academic year with emphasis on Sanskrit, yoga, culture and Hindu icons among rulers and heroes, which would pass off as the government policy.

In the process of exchanging notes with the Ministers concerned, other affiliates like Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, Bhartiya Kisan Sangh and Swadeshi Jagaran Manch etc are expected to insert their paraphrasing into the policy matters on genetically modified crops, foreign direct investment, strategic sale of government assets and FDI in banking and insurance sector etc.

The RSS had already protested against a slew of reforms in various fields in the recent past. It is also miffed with the J & K government's response to separatists and their statements, and expects a "better response" from the government.

The Patidar Sanghatan agitation is another concern, the party sources point to. The meeting is expected to put forth its "unreserved views" in front of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah and also give them a time-frame for them to improve their act.

By W Chandrakanth