In the 11 years of Modi-rule, Hindutva Frankenstein’s monsters have mushroomed everywhere and in his eagerness to emerge as the supreme leader of the Hindutva, Bhagwat allowed them to grow. He patronised "sants and swamis" whose job is to propagate the Hindutva philosophy of RSS and Bhagwat. They have one thing in common: Both crave power, for which they use the political philosophy of Hindutva.

These people have been using Hindutva and propagating ultra Hindutva line for their personal gains. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has never been associated with the RSS. Yogi has his own Hindu Yuva Vahini, an independent Hindu religious group founded in April 2002, on the day of Rama Navami and headquartered in Gorakhpur. Yogi was coopted to make the Hindutva slogan more aggressive and ruthless.

Till six months ago, Bhagwat was enamoured with his model of Hindutva and he was busy projecting himself as a counter to Modi. But now the same Yogi is challenging his authority, out and out in denial mode. “We have been living in harmony for a long time. If we want to provide this harmony to the world, we need to create a model. After the construction of the Ram Mandir, some people think they can become leaders of Hindus by raking up similar issues in new places. This is not acceptable," Bhagwat is said to have reasoned in Pune.

It is worth mentioning that on December 21, Yogi approved of RSS Chief's message of harmony.“I would say that only Sanatan Dharma can bring peace across the world. Sanatan Dharma is the national religion of Bharat. Bharat will remain till there is Sanatan Dharma. We all should work together to protect it,” Bhagwat said at a religious event in Ayodhya.

Demand for excavation of masjids for tracing Hindu temples has been acute in UP. Yogi contradicting Bhagwat was seen in the BJP circles as his attempt to emerge as the worthy successor of “Hindu Hriday Samrat” Modi. But a quick learner, Yogi preferred to fall in line and stand by Bhagwat. RSS had planned to use Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj to project Yogi as a Modi-like brand, a Hindutva icon. Having come to realise that his protest to Bhagwat may jeopardise his future, Yogi endorsed Bhagwat’s line that protection of Sanatan Dharma is essential for world peace.

Bhagwat was forced to come out with this statement to counter the pro-Modi leaders and elements in the saffron ecosystem and to frustrate the attempt to hijack RSS’s agenda. After the 2019 Lok Sabha win, Modi has been assiduously trying to project himself as the supreme leader of the saffron ecosystem. It was only recently, just ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, could Bhagwat and other RSS leaders show Modi his right place.

It is only now that Modi has become proactive and not loosen his grip on the party. A large number of saffron leaders are advocating Modi’s line. The Akhil Bharatiya Sant Samiti (AKSS), which is close to Modi, has criticised Bhagwat's remarks, saying that these are matters for religious leaders to decide and not for the RSS. "Whatever they decide will be accepted by Sangh and VHP," said Swami Jitendranand Saraswati.

Meanwhile, Bhagwat's remarks also drew a strong reaction from Swami Avimukteshwarananda, the Shankaracharya of the Jyotish Peeth in Uttarakhand, who said that Hindus have historically faced innumerable atrocities and there is nothing wrong if they seek a resurrection of temples destroyed by invaders. He even alleged that "Mohan Bhagwat speaks according to his convenience. When he needed votes, then he kept speaking only on temples and is now saying Hindus should not look for temples."

The war of supremacy between Bhagwat and Modi has been raging and has now turned aggressive and sharper with the date for the election of a BJP president of BJP comes closer. Bhagwat has also come to realise that the RSS and BJP have been losing their support base. The various Hindu groups are sharpening their attacks on Muslims. Nearly two months back Bhagwat had advised the saffron rank and file to maintain restraint.

The latest developments have fallen flat. Bhagwat sees them as open defiance and this is unacceptable to the RSS leadership. Some RSS leaders point out that from his early days, when he was associated with the Gujarat RSS and BJP, Modi is known for planning and engineering dissension. On many occasions he had played spoilsport. He was resorting to the same tactics now.

RSS leaders say that now the time has come for showing restraint. Under the burden of the extreme past, it is not acceptable to resort to extreme hatred, malice, enmity, suspicion and rake up such new issues on a daily basis, which cannot be allowed? The fact is the RSS leadership is fighting a battle for survival behind the façade of maintaining public decency and peace. (IPA Service)