Late last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid a long-awaited visit to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s Smruti Mandir in Nagpur, where he paid tribute to RSS founder K.B. Hedgewar and its second chief, M.S. Golwalkar. Shortly after, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) successfully passed the controversial Waqf Amendment Bill in Parliament, with complete backing from all its allies, including the ostensibly “secular” Janata Dal (United) and the Telugu Desam Party. While these two developments may appear disconnected, they are, in fact, deeply intertwined—and together, they point toward a worrying shift in India’s political landscape.
Modi’s visit to Nagpur is being interpreted as a thaw in the chilly relations between him and the RSS. At the same time, the unhesitating support extended by JD(U) and TDP to the Waqf Bill demonstrates that the BJP, despite lacking a parliamentary majority on its own, is operating with unbridled freedom to pursue its Hindutva ideology. Those who expected Modi’s dependence on allies to moderate this agenda have been proven wrong. Similarly, analysts who anticipated that the rift between Modi and the RSS might weaken the Sangh ecosystem have been disappointed. The RSS has once again demonstrated its capacity to adapt, recover, and move forward with its long-term objectives intact.
This presents a grave possibility: a permanent transformation of India’s socio-political fabric in favor of Hindutva, regardless of which party leads the government in the future.
Since the BJP came to power in 2014, there has been a sustained effort to shift India’s polity away from liberal secularism toward a religion-centric majoritarian framework. Under Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, the government has aggressively advanced the RSS’s central aims with the vision of establishing a Hindu Rashtra—a nation by and for Hindus.
This transformation has primarily taken place through constitutional means—through legislative and judicial actions. Landmark decisions and laws include the abrogation of Article 370 that removed Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, the criminalization of triple talaq, the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the Waqf Amendment Bill, and moves toward a Uniform Civil Code.
Alongside these measures, the government has allowed non-state entities like the Bajrang Dal, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, and various fringe groups to embed a majoritarian ethos across the country. The results are evident: lynchings over cow protection, the forced shutdown of Muslim-run businesses, and assaults on secular and liberal voices, both online and offline. Hate speech has become routine, and a revisionist version of history—rooted in Hindu victimhood and Muslim vilification—is gaining traction.
In several BJP-ruled states, the authorities have defied Supreme Court guidelines by using bulldozers to demolish Muslim homes, while peaceful protestors are often branded anti-national. The offensive against minorities is now often led by BJP office-bearers, including chief ministers, ministers, MPs, and MLAs.
Further legal modifications are reportedly in the pipeline, targeting laws such as the Income Tax Act, the Personal Data Protection Act, and the Foreigners Act.
Since Modi took charge in 2014, India’s march down this sectarian road has reached a critical juncture. The direction now points clearly toward the RSS’s dream of a Hindu Rashtra—a place where the dominance of Hindu identity overshadows all else. The likelihood of returning to the inclusive values championed during the Independence movement and enshrined in the Constitution is narrowing rapidly.
If defenders of secular and democratic values fail to act swiftly, the idea of a pluralistic India could be overtaken permanently by a monocultural Hindu Rashtra. What’s more alarming is that the RSS’s vision is no longer tied solely to the BJP. The Sangh has pursued its mission independently for a century, biding its time to wield actual influence over the nation’s power structures. Even before 2014, it was quietly undermining India’s secular foundations, gradually poisoning public opinion with communal ideologies.
The political establishment, particularly the Congress Party after Independence, failed to counter this quiet infiltration. This inaction allowed the RSS to build enough strength to execute a two-phase final strategy. The first phase began with Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption movement, supported by figures like Arvind Kejriwal, and backed silently by the RSS. This culminated in the portrayal of Narendra Modi as a transformational Hindu leader, capable of reshaping India’s destiny. The electorate bought into this image and effectively handed over the reins of the country to the RSS.
Once the BJP secured power, the RSS rapidly advanced its Hindu Rashtra vision. In a country where a Union minister once resigned over trivial controversies during national crises, we now see Parliamentarians who idolize Nathuram Godse, Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin. Even Prime Minister Modi has been accused of making veiled jabs at the Muslim community.
Calls for violence against Muslims are increasingly tolerated, while voices defending democracy face suppression. Perhaps the starkest example was the treatment of top female wrestlers who accused a BJP MP of sexual harassment—they were publicly dragged by the police. This starkly contrasts with the nationwide protests following the brutal 2012 gang rape and murder of Nirbhaya in Delhi.
How did such a drastic transformation occur in under a decade?
The answer lies in the RSS’s long-standing effort to reinterpret India’s civilizational roots. It had cultivated a silent base of sympathizers—ordinary people who today freely endorse its hateful ideology. This hidden support system was activated with propaganda, financial clout, and coercion to dismantle democratic norms and constitutional values. Meanwhile, even the Opposition grew cautious, reluctant to take on the BJP’s Hindutva project head-on for fear of political backlash or imprisonment.
This fear is not limited to the BJP’s coalition partners. Much of the Opposition now hesitates to openly defend Muslims, fearing a loss of Hindu support. This apprehension is misplaced—the BJP’s vote share has never exceeded 38 percent. Most Hindus are not voting for the BJP, yet the Opposition seems paralyzed, unable to assert its secular position. As a result, it continues to play defense, afraid to confront the BJP’s communal rhetoric, lest it “miscue the shot and get caught out.” This strategy might help avoid defeat, but it cannot secure victory—and that suits the RSS perfectly.
Even if the Opposition were to come to power, it would likely only pause the Hindutva momentum, not reverse it. The RSS is built to endure, and if necessary, the BJP’s rivals might even compete to occupy the same ideological space. For the Sangh, “the more the merrier.”
Their rallying cry remains: “Jo Hindu hit ki baat karegaa, wo Bharat par raaj karegaa (Only they who safeguard Hindu interests will rule India).”
The urgency is now absolute. If the Opposition is serious about this ideological battle, it must act immediately. Time is not on its side. As Rahul Gandhi speaks of a 50-year struggle, he must recognize that more than five decades were already squandered before 2014 by ignoring the RSS threat. Unless democratic forces decisively confront the Sangh during its centenary, they may be left powerless as it celebrates its 150th year, having fully realized its Hindu Rashtra vision.