BJP's asset, foot-soldiers and liability: Why the RSS is a limiting factor

It is this infrastructure that the BJP has access to and an aggressive campaigning spirit like Amit Shah, who chooses to tap into it, will find a deep and rich vein of resource

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is at once the greatest asset of the Bharatiya Janata Party and its biggest limiting factor. Why it is an asset is not difficult to imagine but let us look at it in any case. The RSS is the largest non-government organisation (NGO) on the planet. This may appear to be a little strange to those who imagine an NGO to be a particular sort of thing (do-gooder, clueless, anti-national etc.), but an NGO is exactly what the RSS is.

It is in fact a well-funded NGO and has a large number of members —