From Nagpur, with 'love'

Nagpur was the dead centre of undivided India. The British set up a zero-mile marker there. Although the present-day centre of India is a degree north and a degree east of it in remote Madhya Pradesh, for a brief while last week the Maharashtra city was the epicentre of political India, thanks to a meeting there between two ageing gentlemen, one past his even titular prime and the other very much at the apogee of his influence.  We were treated to two discourses on live television, one delivered in Marathi-accented but fluent Hindi, the other in Bengali-accented and stumbling English.

Ever since it became known that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) extended an invitation to the former president Pranab Mukherjee to address the valedictory function for its third year trainees, the opinion space overflowed with comments not only from the Congress faithful and other opposition leaders, but also columnists and public intellectuals. Mr Mukherjee had transgressed the general theme. The tone varied from mildly rueful to downright critical. It reached a crescendo on June 7, the day of Mr Mukherjee’s speech. The Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma and Sonia Gandhi’s confidant Ahmed Patel led a scathing attack.

More wide-ranging observations followed the address. Ramachandra Guha found the Mukherjee oration, such as it was, to be illuminating about the place and implications of the Constitution and ranked it the best he has heard, with only Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore and Jawaharlal Nehru possibly excelling it. Others, including the Congress official spokesmen, felt that Mr Mukherjee had held a mirror to the RSS. The most moderate view was that this was a welcome event, signifying a possibility of dialogue between the two leading ideologies of the two major Indian parties.

Many kites were flown about why Mr Mukherjee was invited and why he accepted. Some speculated that the Sangh would gain credibility and respectability through the presence of a person of Mr Mukherjee’s eminence on its platform. Others felt that Mr Mukherjee could emerge as a consensus candidate for prime ministership if the 2019 election results in a hung Parliament. At the very least, he was trying to secure a safe harbour for his politically active children in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

A little reflection would show that none of these hold water. There is no gainsaying the need for a meaningful political dialogue, given the almost hourly execrable exchange of charges, counter-charges and name-calling between the BJP and the Congress. This war of words weakens the very foundations of the democratic process. But to think of the Nagpur meeting as the beginning of a substantive conversation is to delude ourselves. Both Mr Bhagwat and Mr Mukherjee stressed the unity and diversity of India, but that was about all. The RSS concept of unity hardly goes beyond acceptance of faiths other than Hinduism. In the absence of solemn respect for all religious beliefs, there is no inclusiveness. Similarly, Mr Mukherjee’s rambling discourse on history and the Constitution would find few takers even among his own erstwhile party-men. In fact, early on his speech, Mr Bhagwat said, “RSS is RSS, Dr Pranab Mukherjee is Dr Pranab Mukherjee.” So much for dialogue, meaningful or otherwise!

As for Mr Mukherjee’s personal objectives, the astute politician in him would doubtless know that political obituaries of the BJP-led government and prime minister Narendra Modi at this stage are at best premature and at worst wishful thinking. His own daughter repudiating him puts paid to the possibility of his seeking insurance for his children.

Only the naïve would believe that RSS now craves recognition. It already has plenty, and Mr Bhagwat is the second or the third most powerful person in the country. What the Sangh faces is scorn from the liberal-secular intelligentsia.  That will not go away even if someone as critical of the RSS as Mr Guha were to accept an invitation to speak at Nagpur. And it most likely matters not a whit to the Sangh or Mr Bhagwat.

This neti-neti (not this nor the other, or via negativa) analysis leads us, as in the Jnana Yoga, to the revelation of the possible inner reality. Both the Sangh and Mr Mukherjee have ample reasons to hold grudges against the Congress, and especially the Gandhi family. The Congress and Rahul Gandhi never fail to accuse the RSS of being behind the Mahatma’s assassination. And Mr Mukherjee has made no secret of his regret at being denied the prime ministership, which he thought he amply deserved, on more than one occasion by the party, at the instance of its ruling dynasty.

The whole episode thus seems to be like the proverbial storm in a teacup, possibly not even a footnote to current history. It was nothing more than a postcard sent by the most recent former occupant of the magnificent palace on Raisina Hill under the watchful eye of the chief of the praetorian guards of Hindu nationalism, to a certain lady who has occupied 10 Janpath for nearly three decades, reading, “Dear Madam: From Nagpur, with love. Wish you were here! Yours truly, PM (how I wish I had been!)”.

The writer is the founder-director of the Institute of Rural Management, Anand