BJP vs RSS or Narendra Bhai vs Mohan Bhagwat: the Battle for Primacy

Two Peas in a Pod: The Uneasy Tussle Between BJP and RSS.

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Author credentials:

K.B.S. Sidhu, IAS (Retd.), former Special Chief Secretary to the Government of Punjab. He writes at the intersection of the BJP–RSS relationship, leadership personalities and ideological overlap, and the impact of penal US trade tariffs on Indian politics.

Two Peas in a Pod: The Uneasy Dance Between BJP and RSS

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) have long moved in tandem—political vehicle and ideological fountainhead. Yet the last fifteen months have made the friction visible: who sets the line, who leads the movement, and who owns the legacy? Since the 2024 campaign, the interplay between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat has become a choreography of embrace and admonition, assertion and restraint.

I. 2024: Assertion from the party, admonition from the parent

The sharpest note of autonomy, if not independence, sounded mid-campaign in May 2024 when BJP National President J.P. Nadda told The Indian Express that while the party “needed the RSS” in the beginning, “today, we have grown and we are capable. The BJP runs itself.” The line, amplified across outlets, was widely read as cleared by the very top leadership. (Hindustan Times, Mint, The News Minute)

Within days of the results, Bhagwat offered a velvet-gloved answer from Nagpur. In his first post-poll remarks he said a “true sevak is not arrogant”, urged that “opposition is not an adversary”, and pressed that Manipur be resolved on priority—a triple cue to humility, decorum, and governance over campaign rhetoric. The timing and tone were interpreted as a coded critique of swagger and coarseness in the political arena. (India Today, The Financial Express, Hindustan Times)

II. Drawing boundaries after Ayodhya

By December 2024 in Pune, Bhagwat tightened the message. The Ram Mandir, he stressed, was a matter of faith, but no one should try to become “leaders of Hindus” by raking up fresh temple-mosque disputes; that is “not acceptable.” It was a clear call to de-escalate culture-war politics beyond Ayodhya—uncomfortable for maximalists in the BJP’s ecosystem, yet entirely in keeping with the Sangh’s instinct for social order over perpetual mobilisation. (Hindustan Times, Free Press Journal, The Week)

III. The generational gauntlet

In July 2025, Bhagwat dropped a line that set Delhi abuzz: “When you turn 75, it means you should stop now and make way for others.” He named no one, but the political implications were obvious in a year when both he and Modi hit that milestone. The remark was read as a nudge toward succession norms—inside both the Sangh Parivar and the BJP. (Moneycontrol, The Economic Times)

IV. Modi’s outreach from the Red Fort

Then came Independence Day 2025. From the ramparts of the Red Fort, Modi wrapped the Sangh in conspicuous praise—calling the RSS the “biggest NGO in the world” and highlighting its “century of dedication”—and paid rich tributes to its founder, Dr K.B. Hedgewar. Equally striking was what he left unsaid: no invocation of freedom fighters such as Shaheed Bhagat Singh or national leaders like Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. In one stroke, he embraced the organisation and cast himself as custodian of its legacy—an assertion of political primacy couched as homage, just as the RSS steps into its centenary year (founded 1925). (The Times of India)

V. Personalities, not doctrine

It bears stressing: this is not a schism over first principles. The BJP and RSS still share ideological contours. The contest is over primacy, method and tempo. JP Nadda’s 2024 assertion framed a self-sufficient party machine. Mohan Bhagwat’s speeches re-asserted the Sangh’s normative guardrails—humility, decorum, restraint on polarising issues, and space for generational refresh. PM Modi’s Independence Day paean reclaimed the narrative, binding the Sangh’s century to his leadership moment. The ping-pong continues.

VI. What to watch next

Two near-term decisions will telegraph the balance inside the ecosystem:

• Vice-Presidential nominee. After Jagdeep Dhankhar’s resignation (21 July 2025), the Election Commission has fixed the poll for 9 September 2025; the NDA has authorised Modi and J.P. Nadda to pick the candidate, and the BJP parliamentary board meets on 17 August. A Sangh-proximate consensus-builder would suggest accommodation; a hard-edged loyalist would underscore party autonomy. (Business Standard+1, India Today mint)

• New BJP National President. Multiple reports placed the announcement around Independence Day, contingent on completion of state-level organisational polls per the party constitution (half the units must finish before a national election). The profile of the appointee—RSS-adjacent organiser vs. a leader singularly identified with Modi-Shah—will be equally telling. (Outlook India, National Herald)

VII. Quotes you can reread

• JP Nadda (20 May 2024): “In the beginning… we needed the RSS… Today… the BJP runs itself.” Hindustan Times

• Mohan Bhagwat (June 2024): “A true sevak is not arrogant… The opposition is not an adversary… Manipur should be discussed on priority.” India Today, The Financial Express, Hindustan Times

• Mohan Bhagwat (Dec 2024): “No one can become ‘leaders of Hindus’ by raking up such disputes… [that is] unacceptable.” Hindustan Times

• BMohan hagwat (11 July 2025): “When you turn 75, … make way for others.” Moneycontrol

• Modi (15 Aug 2025): RSS is the “biggest NGO in the world” with a “century of dedication.” The Times of India

VIII. The external squeeze: Washington’s tariffs and a resurgent Opposition

Overlaying this intra-family tussle is a hard external squeeze, both globally as well as domestically :

U.S. tariffs. In 2025, the White House rolled out a series of “reciprocal” tariff executive orders—modified again on 31 July—with new duties taking effect from 7 August and further adjustments slated through the autumn. India-specific coverage has spoken of steep rates on Indian imports (some outlets headline 50%), while business trackers describe a universal or country-tiered surcharge layered atop earlier duties. The politics is harsher than the spreadsheets either way. (The White House, Davis Wright Tremaine, Forbes, The Times of India)

The consequence at home is reputational pressure on Modi’s “Vishwaguru” pitch. Opposition leaders have labelled the tariff shock “economic blackmail” and asked what kind of Vishwaguru cannot shield Indian exporters; the charge has travelled from party podiums to mainstream commentary. Even as some analysis suggests the direct exposure may be narrower than the headline implies, the optics are bruising, and New Delhi’s outreach appears to be colliding with unilateralism in Washington. (The Indian Express, Hindustan Times, The Economic Times, The Times of India)

Back Home: At the same time, Rahul Gandhi and the INDIA bloc have turned the temperature up on domestic legitimacy. A days-long confrontation over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar culminated in a dramatic protest march to the Election Commission; opposition MPs—including Rahul Gandhi—were detained and released. Gandhi now launches a “Vote/ Voter Adhikār Yatra” across more than 20 districts from 17 August, alleging “vote-chori”, complicity by the Election Commission, and systematic disenfranchisement; allies from across the bloc are slated to join. Whether or not courts ultimately vindicate the claims, the national optics are of a mobilised Opposition riding a rights-and-rules message into the Bihar campaign. (Mint, The Indian Express, The Economic Times, The Times of India)

Peering into the Future

Across the Sangh Parivar, what once looked like seamless alignment now resembles a careful pas de deux. The BJP’s central leadership previously projected autonomy while the Sangh now asserts moral guardrails and a generational refresh. Externally, Washington’s new “penal” tariffs have put Modi on the defensive even as his Independence Day embrace of the RSS sought to reset the narrative. Compounding this, President Trump has—yet again—claimed he personally brokered the India–Pakistan ceasefire during Operation Sindoor, a boast that arguably undercuts New Delhi’s position; PM Modi and his government have flatly denied any third-party mediation, including on the floor of Parliament. Meanwhile, a resurgent Opposition led by Rahul Gandhi is whipping up a national storm over alleged “vote-chori” and the Election Commission’s neutrality, as his Voter/Vote Adhikar Yatra rolls across Bihar. How the two organisations—and, more particularly, the two leaders—reconcile these political differences will shape national politics at the Centre in the medium term.

Let’s wait and see.

(The Times of India, The White House, The Economic Times)