Vested with the needed clout, the right-wing Hindu body has started spreading its tentacles in all fields of governance by inducting its hardcore swayam sewaks and pracharaks, some even of doubtful calibre, in institutions of excellence, leading centres of learning and important decision taking government bodies.

No doubt, all ruling parties appoint people of their choice as members of their cabinet and to key offices of government and constitutional bodies. Nobody, therefore, should have any objection if RSS pracharaks or activists are also appointed as ministers in Modi’s newly expanded jumbo ministry or in official bodies.

The question, however, arises when appointments of persons with questionable credentials are made to prestigious institutions and higher educational and constitutional offices to which experts and persons of high calibre are generally appointed. But under the two years of the Modi-led government the reverse has taken place in many cases where mediocre activists with RSS leanings have been or are being nominated as heads of some of the prestigious and constitutional national institutions. These appointments have evoked criticism and protests particularly from those to serve whom these institutions were set up.

Three such cases were the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as FTII chief, Pahlaj Nihalani as Censor Board Chief and cricketer Chetan Chauhan as chief of NIFT. Their competence and efficiency, about which doubts were recently expressed, will be tested in coming months.

The most worrying development is the efforts being made to implement the RSS boss Mohan Bhagwat’s agenda of converting an inclusive India into a Hindu Rashtra. The bhagva brigade does not care that India is inhabited by multi-level socio-religious populace and a number of minorities. It is in this context, that certain recent developments need to be taken note of. One was the forced attendance of the heads of even top-level educational institutions and government functionaries at the RSS-sponsored meetings.

The other was the July 6 report published by Indian Express that on July 5 the RSS held a meeting of six vice-chancellors and over 30 professors from various government universities in the BJP-ruled Chhatisgarh. The day-long meeting was also attended by State Education Minister Prem Prakash Pandey.

The Express report said that “The Centre, in its 1966 order had banned government employees from participating in the activities of RSS and the Jammat-Ulemi. Though the order is in effect even today, a few states such as Chhattisgarh have amended it in their territory. In February 2015, the Chhattisgarh government had issued a notification that allowed government servants to participate in the RSS activities.”

Calling the July 5 meeting unconstitutional, the leader of the Opposition T.S. Singhdeo said that the V-Cs report to the Governor and not the RSS. In a letter to the Governor Balramji Das Tandon, Singhdeo said the meeting was proof of the RSS’s attempt to saffronise education.

Another case is the attempt being made to expedite saffronising education which besides including some Hindu religion scriptures in the higher secondary curriculum also seeks to introduce compulsory daily prayers in schools and colleges.

The foregoing developments will impact the outcome of the elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa scheduled for 2017. Of them, the most important will be of the country’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh where BJP has now 73 of the state’s 80 Lok Sabha members.

As the recent events particularly of Kairana and Dadri in UP had witnessed, the BJP may try to communally polarize the Hindu majority state. A number of investigating journalists and non-BJP parties who had visited Kairana falsified the BJP’s claim that the exodus of Hindus from the Muslim majority of the village was forced by the Muslims.

In the wake of criticism that the party is trying to communally polarize the state what strategy the BJP adopts is yet to be seen. The party will, however, have to face strong challenge from Mayawati and Mulayam Singh Yadav who enjoy popular followings in the state. It is too early to predict to what extent Priyanka Gandhi, if she is deputed to play a leading role in the elections, is able to improve the party’s electoral prospects which at present appear bleak.

The outcome of the oncoming elections will decide the longevity or decline of the Modi government and the BJP which are already losing ground after its record 2014 popularity. (IPA Service)