New RSS face and Moditva
What does Dattatreya Hosabale's election as general secretary - Sarkaryavah of RSS - the second in command to Mohan Bhagwat signify?
One can look at it from multiple perspectives. But the most important is the 'time factor'.
Time moves fast; but it certainly moves faster in a vibrant democracy like ours. The pleasure of 2019 victory in general elections - seeking an enhanced mandate for Moditva phenomenon and Hindutva goals - is hardly settled and yet we are fast approaching towards another 'semi final' - the elections to legislative house in Uttar Pradesh in early 2022. The final round - yet again - would be 2024.
The challenge of 2024 will be as much for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his deputy Amit Shah and BJP as a political organisation as much it will be for the Sangh Parivar and its fountainhead RSS.
Thus, comes the significance of 'time factor' and Hosabale and his perceived equation with Modi. By 2024-25, RSS top brass would be busy celebrating 100 years of its existence.
The RSS was founded on September 27, 1925 by K B Hedgewar. Now, by the turn of 2024 when India would be heading towards another round of parliamentary polls - both Mohan Bhagwat (RSS chief) and Narendra Modi (incumbent Prime Minister) would be turning 74.
Modi was born September 17, 1950 hardly a week after Bhagwat's birth on September 11, 1950.
Here comes the significance of Dattatreya Hosabale in RSS-BJP cosmos. Age wise, Hasabale is five years younger to both. Importantly, he and Modi enjoy good rapport. In between now and 2024, comes 2022 - when India would elect its new President too.
A section of experts has linked Hosabale's election as new RSS general secretary to his proximity to the Prime Minister. The truth is Modi is also 'close' to Hosabale. Both are said to have come together 'in RSS activities' during Emergency of 1975. Later they worked together in two crucial states of Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat. Even Amit Shah enjoys good and workable relationship with Hosabale.
In the words of a senior RSS leader, Hosabale knows the 'Gujarati mindset' of both Modi and Shah.
In 2017, in a key decision Hosabale was rushed to Uttar Pradesh, stationed at Lucknow and made RSS in-charge for the country's most populous state. His key assignment was to 'unite' the divided house called BJP then - with a host of ambitious leaders from varied caste groups including two former BJP national presidents Rajnath Singh and Murli Manohor Joshi and other stakeholders Kalyan Singh, Vinay Katiyar and Yogi Adityanath.
Till 2016 end, the UP BJP's electoral performance was poor barring of course the 71 plus 2 (famous 73) win of 2014 Lok Sabha polls. But such a show armed with a strong 'Modi wave' could be accidental and thus there were pressures to repeat the success.
Hosabale was RSS choice for Mission UP of 2017 and he made fantastic team with PM Narendra Modi in Delhi and irreplaceable Amit Shah as BJP national president. Hosabale focused on strengthening the ideological moorings of the Sangh.
Remember Modi himself camping in Varanasi region and most often making remarks on Muslim graveyards.
The erstwhile Akhilesh Yadav government in 2012 had announced allocation of Rs 200 crore for constructing 'graveyard walls' sparking much political row. It is said it was at the instance of Shah and Hosabale that PM Modi made a right synthesis of his development speech (Vikas gaye Vanwas) with pro-Hindutva elements.
The gamble had paid dividends and in choosing 'saffron clad' Adityanath — one who presumably follows an ascetic life style based on yoga — the Modi-Hosabale collective leadership had given BJP a new generation leadership. Yogi has age in his favour though not from RSS school per se.
Now, as UP is set for next year's assembly polls - Yogi remains an undisputed leader in the state with his popular appeal and good understanding with PM Modi and also powerful Home Minister Amit Shah. Yogi has acceptability in other states as well and is a star campaigner for the party either in south or states like Tripura and West Bengal in east.
If grapevine is to be believed, Hosabale had his say in helping Modi frame his mind for choosing J P Nadda as BJP national president against someone like Bhupender Yadav.
Now Hosabale as second in command would mean - greater and importantly 'smoother' coordination between RSS and BJP top brass chiefly Modi-Shah duo.
In Uttar Pradesh, the BJP would not like to go to the polls in 2022 with disgruntled segments as being witnessed in West Bengal - of course due to a plethora of reasons. After being made UP in charge, it is said one of the first and sacrosanct advises Hosabale had given to Shah was that BJP ought to work to win the hearts of Dalits and other backward classes. Non-Yadav OBCs and Non-Jatav Dalits had backed BJP even in 2014; but retaining the stranglehold was crucial.
Once elections were over in UP in 2017, media speculated a lot on Manoj Sinha - putting in 'development' image card. But Hosabale, though regarded as one of the few moderates in RSS, and also others trusted Yogi more. This was sheer pragmatism. In 2005, Yogi was actively part of a re-conversion drive where 1,800 Christians were reportedly converted to Hinduism in the town of Etah.
In 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Manoj Sinha even lost the election and now he is Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir.
Till the other day, it was being viewed that RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat considered 'power politics' as a poisoning influence and that 'hero-worshiping' like Modi-mantra would not go well for an organisation which is instrumental and committed for 'man making'.
Hosabale reportedly does not regard such views as something of a permanent phenomenon. No doubt, once Modi was named BJP's prime ministerial candidate on September 13, 2013, Hosabale turned himself as the man behind the Sangh’s door-to-door outreach in favour of Modi.
Rewind the popular slogan 'Ghar Ghar Modi' vis-a-vis 2014 general elections. Rest all is history, they say.
Hosabale has one big advantage. Though born in southern state of Karnataka, he has worked in north - crucially Uttar Pradesh - and also Assam, where BJP faced all sorts of obstacles. In 1982-83, he even started Save Assam Youth Movement.
Being from south gives another advantage to RSS itself as the Sanghparivar would be keen to expand its base in the region. Though the BJP is in power in Karnataka, for next few years, the Sangh leaders have shared optimism about Telangana, Andhra Pradesh (where Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy's pro-Christian tilt is a helping factor), Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Even otherwise, both the BJP and the RSS leaderships are aware of 'limitations' of banking solely on north or putting all eggs in the UP-Rajasthan-Bihar-MP basket. BJP's defeat in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan in 2018 ad two subsequent polls in Delhi keep reminding the Sangh parivar how 'India Shining' over confidence brought in a shocker in 2004.
BJP's hopes of doing well in West Bengal and strengthening of toehold in Assam shows the Sangh parivar will work relentlessly in east of India and would need ideological penetration in the south.
So, here is the man - 65 years of age with at least 10 years at hands to play pivotal role in the affairs of the Sangh.
The Hosabale-Modi equation is also crucial in political sense of the term as the RSS still regards farmers' stir as a "solvable problem". Even in 2020, the RSS-affiliated Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) had opposed the BJP government’s decision to suspend labour laws in states ruled by the party.
BMS chief Virjesh Upadhyay had asked all state units of the organisation to write to their respective chief ministers to stop the “unilateral withdrawal” of labour laws. Free hands to BMS and also VHP (under Pravin Togadia) also caused enough embarrassment to the Vajpayee regime. Both L K Advani and Atal Bihari Vajpayee often had differences with the RSS leadership under K S Sudarshan.
ends
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| 2004 and 2009: Marked his political end |
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