In the 10 years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the RSS has degenerated to such an extent that its senior leaders are working against its interest and maligning its image. Two major developments have taken place in the last couple of days, which show the helplessness of the RSS. One, Mohan Bhagwat's 'writ' does not run and two, he's incapable of providing conceptual direction.

This was clearly manifest in how Amit Shah deliberately demeaned Dalit idol and chief architect of the Indian Constitution, ‘Babasaheb’ Bhim Rao Ambedkar and how UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath openly ridiculed Bhagwat’s diktat to celebrate India's unity in diversity.

While some INDIA bloc leaders described Shah's disparaging comments on Ambedkar as a manifestation of his arrogance and the authoritarian streak in him, some BJP leaders said it was a slip of the tongue. The reality is, Amit Shah deliberately insulted Ambedkar.

Being the No.2 in the Modi cabinet, with the reputation of being the "Chanakya of the BJP", how could Shah commit such a big faux pas? He must have been aware of the enormous amount of pain RSS has undertaken to reach out to the Dalit, OBC and EBC, for whom Ambedkar is 'God'. With one "slip of the tongue", Amit Shah completely eroded RSS’s gains of the last 40 years.

How could he forget the fact that for the last ten years Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been striving hard to win over the trust and support of the Dalit, OBC and EBC? It is widely known that to accomplish its mission of turning India into Hindu Rashtra, the RSS has been projecting the Dalit, OBC and EBC as an integral part of the Hindu community to inflate the Hindu population.

The intensity of RSS anger and antagonism towards Amit Shah could be gauged from the fact that the RSS has in plain words asked Modi to direct Shah to apologise to the people of the country or remove him from the government. In fact, this instruction from RSS has put Modi in a precarious situation. He does not like to take orders because that would eclipse his image and control on the party apparatus. His image of "iron-man" would be completely eroded.

Modi must be in a state of quandary. But the RSS is not. RSS leaders are worried on two counts: first, it will result in complete erosion of its supremacy and provide the Congress and the INDIA bloc the opportunity to intensify their agitation. Significantly, the agitation is no more in the hands of the INDIA bloc leaders, several Dalit and EBC and OBC organisations have taken to the streets and they plan to intensify the movement.

Top INDIA bloc sources say that within the next couple of days the entire opposition, including the Congress, would take out a massive protest rally to the Delhi Police headquarters. While this would put Modi in an embarrassing situation, it would send a strong message to the police to stop acting on the instructions of BJP leaders, particularly Amit Shah.

No doubt the arrogant approach and attitude of Amit Shah has aggravated the situation. On December 25, Dalits, minorities, EBC, OBC organisations will burn copies of 'Manusmriti' across the country. Significantly, Amit Shah’s design to humiliate Ambedkar coincided with Rahul Gandhi motivating oppressed people to uphold the Constitution and assert their rights. His efforts to identify with the Dalit and OBC aspirations had borne fruit for the INDIA bloc during the Lok Sabha elections.

Questions are also being asked about Amit Shah's remarks against Ambedkar when the BJP, especially Modi, was dependent on Dalit and backward support for political survival. In the last election the party had managed to get around 38 percent votes. Out of this the share of Dalit and backward castes was 27 percent.

Obviously, no politically astute leader would indulge in this nature of hara-kiri. On their part, the RSS leaders are looking at Shah's act of defaming Ambedkar as an extension of JP Nadda’s statement made during the Lok Sabha election that BJP is no longer dependent on the RSS. Party leaders also see it as an attempt by Modi to have his person as the Bharatiya Janata Party president.

Modi coming to the open defence of Amit Shah underscores this. Modi is confident that it would not be a major task to salvage the situation and win the trust of the Dalit and backward castes. But before that he must have his 'man' as party president. The term of the current president expires on December 31 and the matter must be settled before that date.

Sources close to Modi point out that he is conscious of the hostility amongst the Dalit and backward castes emanating from the remarks of Amit Shah. He cannot dare to antagonise them, especially those in the states of Bihar and UP. Ambedkar’s political philosophy has been the fulcrum of the social justice politics in these two states. Incidentally, almost all the allies of Modi in these states are dependent on Dalit and backward castes.

Modi is also concerned about the gains Lalu Yadav's RJD will get from the latest fracas. Lalu has already targeted Amit Shah over Ambedkar's remarks: "Condemn this madness. Amit Shah should renounce politics and leave. He has gone mad. Babasaheb Ambedkar was great.” Lalu's political heir Tejashvi has also criticised Shah and accused him and his party of being “anti-Constitution”.

“Babasaheb Ambedkar is our fashion and passion. He is also our motivation and inspiration. We will not let anyone insult Babasaheb Ambedkar. These people are anti-Constitution who spread hatred, and the language used in Parliament is condemnable.”

"The language of the leaders reflects their hatred towards Ambedkar," Lalu stated in a press release on Wednesday. He contended that BJP members inherently harbour social discrimination, untouchability, and animosity towards both the Constitution and Dalit. In fact, the political credibility of Chirag Paswan, Dalit leader Ram Vilas Paswan's son, and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, who christened the nomenclature "ati-pichada" for the extremely backward castes, along with the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Apna Dal. A major exodus of these castes to the Congress cannot be ruled out. (IPA Service)