Did Amit Shah become a backbencher at RSS annual coordination meet?

A photograph released officially by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) at Mathura during the annual coordination meeting of 35 of its affiliates has become a talking point. Not just because of the plush environs but also because a suspiciously familiar looking face resembling BJP national president Amit Shah is seen peeping from one of the rows at the back.

Surely the second most important person in the country after the Prime Minister would not be relegated to the back? But the more the photograph got circulated, the more convinced people became that it was indeed Amit Shah.

The slow realisation triggered a debate with RSS supporters claiming that the austere cultural organisation (or the NGO if you like) treated power like dirt and politicians with the contempt they normally deserve. Others agreed that there must be some method in the madness. The not so subtle message being conveyed, they felt, was that the RSS treated all volunteers equally and nobody in the RSS was really indispensable.

The coordination meeting itself was a relatively grand affair for the austere organisation with most of the delegates booked in relatively classy hotels and guesthouses.

An astute observer of the RSS recalled the ‘calculated ambiguity’ referred to by A G Noorani while commenting on its working style in the book, “RSS & the BJP—a Division of Labour”.

The calculated ambiguity was on display at the media briefing when RSS leader Manmohan Vaidya denied there was any discussion on the performance of the Union or the state government. It was, he emphasised, a coordination meeting after all. But he evaded the question about the presence of Amit Shah as well as UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at the conclave.

Similarly, when he was asked about the Reserve Bank of India’s Annual Report, which exposed the government’s claims on demonetisation, Vaidya’s immediate reaction was to exclaim, “shocking!” But he recovered soon to say that there were mixed reactions to demonetisation from the people. He also conceded that the conclave did discuss about the economy.

Insiders claimed the RSS top brass pulled up the UP Chief Minister and expressed concern over jobless growth. But at the media briefing, Vaidya denied any such discussion took place.

Not surprisingly, the conclave expressed its concern over political violence in Kerala and West Bengal and the alleged political murder of RSS activists. The state-sponsored violence, Vaidya claimed, had been unleashed against the RSS in the two states.

He, however, offered no opinion on mob lynching, unemployment, the collapse of the public health system in Uttar Pradesh, lawlessness in Haryana or the proximity of the BJP leaders to controversial godmen.

The RSS, however, expressed its satisfaction at the Union government’s conduct of foreign policy and voiced its happiness over the withdrawal of Chinese troops from Doklam. This was the first time the Chinese had withdrawn from the border, the spokesman gloated.