Modi is not known to use good words about his colleagues or extolling his contemporaries. His wonderful observations about Yogi have in fact surprised the political establishment of the country. Everyone is busy deciphering the implication of his tribute. The fact of the matter is only a month back, Yogi was summoned by Modi and told in no uncertain words, to beef up the administration and win over the trust of the people.

Through his eulogy Modi also tried to send the message that he was concerned of the problems UP was facing and would not allow him to run the state like his fiefdom. Else Modi would not have allowed putting up of hoardings in Delhi showing him along with Yogi. It is a rare instance of large-scale promotion of Yogi outside his turf.

Modi who is known to speak white lies, once again took to lies to promote Yogi. This gives rise to a question why should he risk his own credibility to protect a person who has miserably failed to provide a good governance and ensure a crime free rule. People are yet to forget at least half a dozen heinous crimes, incidentally gruesome incidents of rapes by BJP leaders at Unnao and Hathras. It is a widely known fact that there is no rule of law. Only two days back of Modi eulogy, two BJP workers desperately tried to disrobe a woman leader of Samajwadi Party.

Modi praised him for handling corona epidemic. Entire world is aware of the fact that Yogi miserably failed and a large number of people died of corona in UP. The number of dead persons was huge and alarming that the Yogi administration preferred to dump in river Ganga, which was being cleaned under project “Namami Gange” by spending a huge amount of around Rs 29000 crores for last seen years, ever since Modi came to power winning from Varanasi in 2014. “Holy Ganga carried the dead bodies through Bihar to Bengal” even Mamata observed. Yogi in fact disrespected the corpses which they were entitled under the Hindu rituals.

How could Modi forget that the Allahabad HC had termed the situation as 'not less than a genocide' and “ a criminal act”. The High Court had used “unprecedented” to describe the hundreds of bodies floating down the Ganga or buried in the sand on its banks. Modi also used the word unprecedented but indifferent context; “UP controlled the second Covid wave and stopped its spread was unprecedented”.

Strange enough for his personal gains Modi ignored the fact that UP has mafia raj and people were surviving at the mercy of the criminals and under world. Women are the most vulnerable. The latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau puts the state at the top. UP is the state where nearly 500 cases under sedation law have been filed against intellectuals, social activists, academics student leaders.

It is worth mentioning that over 200 academics, retired bureaucrats, civil society activists and police officers have written an open letter under the banner of the Constitutional Conduct, expressing alarm at the “complete breakdown of governance and the blatant violation of the rule of law in Uttar Pradesh”, and c cautioning that it could result in the destruction of democracy if left unchecked.

The reason for Modi bestowing praise on Yogi is his use of mercenary prowess to win the panchayat elections. The BJP managed to win 635 block pramukh seats out of 825. This assured Modi of the abilities of Yogi to win the elections. This eulogy sends a strong message that Modi and Shah need him to win UP again in 2022 and India in 2024.

For winning the trust of Yogi, it is imperative that his hurt feelings must be assuaged. The eulogy is an attempt in this direction. Modi tried to project him as a an ardent Hindutva competitor. The task to test Yogi’s acumen had become imperative after the inner poll to assess the mood of the people underlined that Modi may not sweep the general elections as he did in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Modi may struggle to get even 50 seats out of 80. But now Modi has got an emancipator in Yogi.

In this the five day meet of the RSS held in Chitrakoot in Madhya Pradesh deserves special attention. The RSS while has kept open the issue of bringing some new face as the possible prime ministerial candidate, it has decided to integrate Kamandal with Mandal. The RSS will prefer to keep Hindutva on back bench and work for bringing the EBC and Dalits into its fold. Move to reach out to the Muslims and appease them is the part of this strategy. It is significant to watch that the BJP has already started giving importance to the backward and dalit leaders. The indications are available that the party may nominate good number of Muslim candidates in the 2022 assembly election. RSS will open branches in the Muslim localities for indepth interaction with them.

It has already started the process of removing the Brahmin and other upper caste leaders from the front. Attempts are on to remove the caste discrimination. The party is aware that Dalits and EBC are getting ready to throw their weight behind a possible combination of SP, Azad Party and Congress. Some other small parties may also join them. Nevertheless the future of such combination depends on the whim and mood of Akhilesh Yadav.

A closer look at the organisational changes in the RSS would reveal that the dalit and EBC pracharaks have replaced the upper caste pracharaks. RSS has been highly critical of the functioning of Modi and Amit Shah and feel that it is due to them Hindutva forces have lost most of the ground. Their arrogance and arbitrariness has harmed the Hindutva forces. Some RSS leaders are in favour of reinventing the thesis put forward by KN Govindacharya. He was expelled from the party for daring to term Atal Behari Vajpayee a ‘mukhota’, a mask of moderation adopted only to cover a saffron agenda of governance.

There is a growing feeling in the RSS that simply depending on the Hindutva forces would prove to be counterproductive as it may not ensure the victory. Astonishingly the RSS leadership has been closely watching Rahul Gandhi more than any other opposition leader. There is a lingering feeling that he may emerge as the rallying point for the dalits, labourers and backward castes. At the four day meeting ahead of the UP poll, the RSS discussed strategies for the upcoming election, Ram Temple and response to the Covid situation. The RSS is playing a key role in the BJP planning for assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. (IPA Service)