'Hindutva Not Anti-Muslim': Why Ex RSS Members Made New Party in Madhya Pradesh

'BJP has inherited the work culture of the Congress,' said founders of the Janhit Party formed by Ex ESS members.

(Photo: The Quint)

"The party will naturally have a Hindutva agenda, we're all from the RSS background. Hindutva is in the nature of the country," said Manish Kale (55) a former member of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS).

An engineer by profession who was associated with the RSS for close to 16 years from 1991-2007, Kale is now one of the founding members of the Janhit Party in Madhya Pradesh.

The party held its first public meeting in Bhopal on 10 September in which over 200 people registered as members to provide the voters an "alternative" to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress.

Like the BJP-RSS, the Janhit founders also believe that Hindutva is the core ideology of the country and that the Congress' idea of secularism was never India's true nature.

That begs the question — Why then form a separate party with the BJP already being the largest party of India?

Speaking to The Quint, Kale said: "The agenda and the motto is clear. The situation in Madhya Pradesh and the whole country is that the BJP is the largest party but its working culture is same as that of the Congress. It has inherited the work culture of the Congress. The agenda and secular ideology of the Congress has never been in line with the nation's. So, all these parties are the same now."

'Hindutva is Way More Subjective'

The founding members of the party include several former RSS members — Vishal Bindal from Gwalior; Subhash Barot, a doctor; Chandrashekhar Barot, Rajesh Baduria, Rahul Singh - all farmers by profession; Swapnil Joshi, an engineer-turned-teacher among others

Abhay Jain, an engineering graduate from Bhopal and one of the founders was an RSS member for 21 years.

"I joined the RSS in 1986. After 21 years, I quit and travelled the rural areas of the country for a year. In 2008, I started movements in Indore and started promoting our ideology. After years of public movements and protests, we felt the need to join politics and influence governance. Be it a Congress government or a BJP, successive governments have failed in terms of forming policies and agendas," Jain said.

Through the years, Jain, Kale, and several other founding members of the party have led several protests and movements on several issues including the Vyapam scam, the terrorist attack on Amarnath Yatra, atrocities against migrant labourers during the lockdown, etc.

The members have also held movements against the alleged "false cases" lodged in Malegaon and Ajmer bomb blasts.

Kale, however, said that the party's outlook towards Hindutva is different.

"There is a perception that Hindutva is anti-Muslim. People think Hindutva is to oppose Muslims. Hindutva is way more subjective than what it is perceived to be," he said.

'Dissatisfied With BJP Because...'

Both Jain and Kale said that one of the core agendas of the party is to change the 'show-off culture' of politics.

"The culture of politics in the nation currently is something we don't approve of. The way elections are contested and parties are run, blowing money like steam, gathering crowds - it's all about show off now for both the Congress and the BJP. The core of our ideology is setting the right agendas and changing this culture of politics," Jain said.

"India never had a culture where education, healthcare, and food was supposed to be for sale. Today, these are the businesses with turnovers worth millions. Education has been sold to coaching institutes. There are class 11 students dying by suicides," Kale said.

Echoing Jain's views, Kale said that noise is made about irrelevant things in order to muffle the voices of the common people and their demands.

"Currently, it is all about showing off and making noise. The basic issues get lost. There are no debates happening with the government on issues that matter to the people. There is sensationalism of matters related to Hindutva, freebies, a film star or historic personalities. Why are the common people choosing their MLAs and MPs? The government influences all aspects of their lives," Kale said.

'Proud of Our RSS Background But...'

Jain said that all the founding members are proud of their RSS roots and that they had quit the organisation to expand the scope of their public services.

"I am proud of my association with the RSS. But I realised that being a freelancer was better. RSS was a part of our lives. We are proud of it. We are what we are today because of the RSS," he said.

However, the Janhit was formed because the people in MP need a third alternative, Jain said.

"Be it making caste certificates, students getting admissions, or farmers getting their dues, people across classes are facing problems because nobody is paying attention to these problems. The work of the Congress and the BJP is exactly the same, only their slogans and faces are different. The people need a third option. They have to keep alternating between these two and keep choosing those they frequently reject. Hence, we are providing a new platform," he said.

Though the party is yet to be registered by the Election Commission (EC), Jain said that the party