New Delhi: The centenary celebrations of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) at New Delhi’s Dr. Ambedkar International Centre looked less like a cultural event and more like a coronation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi — a lifelong swayamsevak — stood as the chief guest, unveiled a commemorative coin and stamp, and hailed the RSS as “a virtuous incarnation of India’s eternal national consciousness.”
For an organisation banned three times since Independence — after Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination, during the Emergency, and again following the Babri Masjid demolition — the spectacle marked its arrival into the heart of the Indian state. For Modi, it was both a tribute to his ideological alma mater and proof that he has outgrown even the institution that nurtured him.
Critics note the irony: the RSS, often described as one of the most divisive organisations in Indian history, should not, in the normal course of a secular democracy, enjoy such state-sanctioned honour. Its elevation today reflects not only the Sangh’s resilience, but also the erosion of India’s democratic safeguards — and the reckless implosion of the Congress Party, once its principal counterweight.
From Shadow to Centre Stage
Founded in 1925 by K.B. Hedgewar, the RSS spent decades on the margins. Its Brahminical roots, insular worldview, and alleged ideological links to Nathuram Godse, Gandhi’s assassin, made it a suspect organisation in mainstream India. Even when the BJP, its political offshoot, came to power under Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the Sangh’s acceptance was partial, cautious, and often contested.
What changed after Modi’s rise is profound. Unlike Vajpayee, who balanced his RSS inheritance with a careful distance, Modi’s political DNA is inseparable from the Sangh. A full-time pracharak before entering politics, he carried the organisation’s organisational acumen and cultural lens into governance. When he became Prime Minister in 2014, the Sangh saw its greatest vindication: a pracharak leading the Republic. Over the next decade, core items of its agenda — from the Ram Mandir to the abrogation of Article 370 — were fulfilled.
Modi’s New Social Optic
Historically drawing strength from Brahmin-Bania elites, the RSS later projected Modi — a leader from the Modh Ghanchi community — as a “son-of-the-soil” figure capable of taking Hindutva beyond its upper-caste core. By fusing caste symbolism with Hindu nationalism, Modi amplified the Sangh’s mass appeal, accelerating its penetration into backward classes. The groundwork, however, had been laid long before Modi’s rise — from the Ram Janmabhoomi movement to the gradual spread of its affiliate network — and his elevation merely intensified it.
With the talent to appropriate credit ruthlessly and sideline competitors, Modi consolidated power both in the party and within the Sangh’s orbit. His political persona combined Sangh culture with a carefully cultivated personality cult, a duality that would later trigger tensions within the organisation.
Fulfilment and Friction
Modi has delivered on the Sangh’s ideological wishlist, but the alignment has not been friction-free. The Sangh expects that no leader’s persona should eclipse the organisation, yet Modi’s omnipresence, slogans like “Main hoon Modi” and the rise of the bhakt culture, have often overshadowed the institutional hierarchy.
Tensions have also arisen around the emergence of personal crony networks. The RSS has never been opposed to economic engagement, but when these networks appeared devoted more to Modi than to Sangh ideals, unease surfaced. It is not about cronyism itself, or swadeshi principles, but about the creation of parallel power centres that rival the institution’s authority.
Authoritarianism and the Limits of Democracy
Even when BJP lost its parliamentary majority in 2024, the Sangh ecosystem continues to dominate. Its affiliates remain embedded across society and institutions, enabling ideological influence that outlasts electoral arithmetic. The arrest of Ladakhi climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, for example, demonstrates the continued use of state power to silence inconvenient voices. The culture of intimidation and centralised authority cultivated under Modi persists, signalling that electoral setbacks have not weakened the mechanisms of control he established.
The Art of Compromise
Paradoxically, Modi’s consolidation of power coexists with a remarkable talent for conciliation. Whether negotiating political alliances, managing internal BJP dynamics, or smoothing tensions with the Sangh, he employs compromise strategically. This pragmatism, camouflaged by propaganda that emphasizes unyielding authority, has allowed him to maintain ideological fidelity while quietly asserting personal dominance. Recent détente with the RSS chief, including agreement on the 75-year age convention, exemplifies this skill.
The Shared, Controversial Past
Both Modi and the Sangh carry legacies that invite scrutiny. The RSS has long been accused of sectarian politics, historical links to Godse, and the promotion of Hindu majoritarianism. Modi’s political biography bears its own shadows: the 2002 Gujarat riots and his use of religious nationalism to consolidate a voter base. When Modi aligns with the Sangh, the bond is one of ideological kinship but also shared historical baggage. Each legitimises the other, yet also amplifies the criticism that shadows them both.
The Irony of the Century
The RSS centenary is more than a commemoration of a hundred years. It is a statement on the condition of Indian democracy. An organisation once banned now enjoys Prime Ministerial patronage — not because India collectively embraced its vision, but because opposition forces disintegrated, leaving a vacuum. Modi, the Sangh’s most successful political product, has used its platform to consolidate his supremacy, simultaneously serving and eclipsing the organisation itself. In today’s India, power flows not solely from ideology, but from personality, propaganda, and the failure of alternatives.
“The centenary” is a celebration for the Sanghis and a caution to the nation. It marks the triumph of one vision of India, but also highlights the eclipse of another: the secular, democratic promise enshrined in 1947.
