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RSS functionaries often say, sometimes in jest, that Rahul Gandhi has made them ‘famous’. And, he has done more to publicise the RSS than the organisation has ever done for itself.
Congress, particularly Rahul Gandhi, inevitably brings up the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). (Image: PTI)
There has been a curious pattern in Indian politics in recent times. Irrespective of the forums, occasion, or issue, the Congress, particularly Rahul Gandhi, inevitably brings up the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Whether it is a campaign rally, a Parliament speech, or an international press interaction, the Sangh Parivar is the invisible opponent in almost every Congress narrative.
With elections around the corner in several states, the Congress turned up the heat on its old enemy – RSS. This time it began in Karnataka as senior leaders made repeated references to the RSS — accusing it of running the Modi government, subverting the Constitution, and controlling institutions. These are not just ideological volleys. Instead, they are also calculated political moves aimed at rallying a fractured voter base that the Congress desperately wants to consolidate votes of Muslims, OBCs, and Dalits.
The RSS functionaries often say, sometimes in jest, that Rahul Gandhi has made them ‘famous’. And, he has done more to publicise the RSS than the organisation has ever done for itself. They add that Rahul Gandhi’s relentless references about the RSS made people curious around the world and they have now started to take an interest in the Sangh and what it stands for.
Recently, other senior Congress leaders including Priyank Kharge, minister in Karnataka, have joined Gandhi in suggesting a ‘ban’ on the organisation. But, why can’t the Congress stop talking about the RSS even though the party’s primary political opponent is the BJP? News18 spoke with political experts and functionaries of the RSS and political leaders.
‘Nehruvian’ Anxiety, The Founding Feud
The Congress and the RSS were born of two contrasting visions for India pre-independence. While the Congress, particularly under Nehru, sought to build a ‘secular’, ‘socialist’ republic rooted in Western liberalism, the RSS emerged in 1925 as a cultural movement aimed at rejuvenating Hindu identity and nationalism.
The RSS never accepted the Nehruvian idea of secularism and saw it as appeasement for Muslims. Congress, in turn, viewed the RSS as sectarian, regressive, and a threat to India’s plural fabric. This was the reason when Nehru first banned the RSS in 1947 for four days. Several RSS functionaries said that the ban was a result of ‘Nehruvian anxiety’ as he felt that the Sangh might spread its roots faster than anybody could think of.
This foundational clash made the RSS a permanent ideological adversary in the Congress’s worldview. The situation, however, escalated after Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination in 1948, with the RSS temporarily banned and its alleged links, though unproven, with Nathuram Godse cited in public discourse. That shadow never fully lifted in Congress rhetoric.
Speaking with News18, Ratan Sharda, author and political analyst said, “Post-1947, Congress developed a peculiar complex about the RSS. The Sangh’s growing popularity made them anxious — not because it contested elections, but because it connected with the people in a way Congress couldn’t. Nehru responded with bans, setting a legacy of state-sanctioned suppression that his ideological heirs proudly continued. At the core of Congress’s worldview was a warped idea of secularism — where appeasing Muslims was considered liberal, but speaking of Hindus was communal. This distorted lens defined their politics for decades. India was governed for years by this confused sense of nationhood.”
“Indira and Rajiv didn’t hold visceral hatred for the RSS; their opposition was mostly tactical. But today’s leadership, led by Rahul Gandhi, has outsourced its thinking to woke JNU types that have a toxic alliance of radical Islamists, Church lobbies, and leftist ideologues. Their hope is that attacking the RSS will rattle the BJP. What they do not realise is — it is not the Sangh’s name but its unmatched ground presence, its disciplined ecosystem, and its connect with the grassroots that make it so formidable,” he further said, adding, “Congress’s politics of Muslim appeasement and RSS-bashing has earned it no dividends — only political decline. Despite the failure of this idea they have not thought of some new tactics.”
Attacking the Sangh: A Flawed Shortcut?
Despite being largely a social-cultural organisation with no direct or overt electoral role, the RSS remains the ideological backbone of the BJP. The Congress is aware that for defeating the BJP at the ballot box, targeting the party is just not enough. They also need to take on the RSS’s deep grassroots machinery, committed cadre, and long-term ideological vision.
A senior RSS functionary called it ‘ideological bigotry’. “Jairam Ramesh and his coterie, cloaked in self-righteous liberalism, are quick to label an ordinary swayamsevak as a fascist or neo-Nazi — terms that reveal more about their ideological insecurity than about their target. They speak often of the Constitution, invoking its sanctity at every turn. But their idea of constitutionalism collapses at the first sign of ideological dissent,” said the senior RSS functionary.
Senior Congress leaders including Rahul Gandhi, often frame the BJP as a “mask” and the RSS as the real power behind the throne. The anxiety is not misplaced. The Sangh’s ecosystem, ranging from education to health to civil society and other welfare networks, provides the BJP with cultural depth and staying power. This is something the Congress, once a pan-India organisation with a nationalist monopoly, can no longer claim.
Badri Narayan, director of GB Pant Social Science Institute and a senior political observer said, “The BJP has built its politics around visible developmental work and performance, and that’s where the political discourse should be focused. But their opponents haven’t been able to offer a real contrast on that front. Instead, they keep targeting the RSS, thinking it’s a shortcut to discrediting the BJP. What they do not realise is that the more they attack the Sangh, the more it gains strength – not just politically, but socially through its grassroots work.”
“When they speak against the RSS, they are essentially speaking against the people who are part of its vast social outreach. The RSS has never been bothered by political noise; it stays rooted in its long-term vision. So this strategy of attacking the Sangh, without engaging the BJP on governance or delivery, is fundamentally flawed. It shows a lack of understanding of the deeper political implications. It is just an escape route for the Congress,” he added.
From shaping policies to grooming leadership, the RSS now holds moral and intellectual influence over a large section of people through its ‘nationalistic’ ideas. This probably unnerves the Congress. For a party long used to holding the narrative, the RSS represents an alternative nationalism it neither understands fully nor knows how to counter.
Madhuparna Das, Associate Editor (policy) at CNN News 18, has been in journalism for nearly 14 years. She has extensively been covering politics, policy, crime and internal security issues. She has covered Naxa…Read More
Madhuparna Das, Associate Editor (policy) at CNN News 18, has been in journalism for nearly 14 years. She has extensively been covering politics, policy, crime and internal security issues. She has covered Naxa… Read More
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