THE RSS and the sangh parivar are like an epiphyte on a tree; and just like the plant that has its roots in the tree, the RSS also draws its nutrients from the governance structure created by the BJP and it continues to nourish itself even when the BJP is not there. The roots once embedded are very strong. And this is what is being witnessed in MP.

Madhya Pradesh is considered as a laboratory for the sangh parivar. The RSS has made strong inroads into the governance structure, right from officers to the lowest rung. Since last seven months the state is run by the Congress; but is there Congress governance?

Emboldened Kamal Nath(CM of Madhya Pradesh), after the victory in assembly elections did an administrative surgery and it was claimed that the RSS affiliated officers have been put into the pipe line and some of the Congress angular officers will be playing the shots to implement the government policies effectively. Some of the officers were transferred thrice in this exercise.

Despite such a repeated exercise, the influence of RSS has not weakened on the officers. The reply to a question raised by Congress MLA in the state vidhan sabha on Simhasta scam explains the enmeshing of the sangh and the bureaucracy. Simhasta scam, which is over Rs 3,600 crore was one of the main issues in the Congress campaign before the assembly elections. The concerned minister(Congress) replied that after inquiry, it was found that there was no scam. Though even Kailash Vijayvargiya, the national general secretary of BJP has termed it a big scam and said that it was directly linked to Shivraj Singh Chauhan the then CM. The Congress was taken by surprise after this reply. The reply was made by Jaivardhan Singh, who is the son of Digvijay Singh. Later it was highlighted that the statement which the minister read was the one prepared during Shivraj Singh’s regime when a clean chit was given to him. Such is the state of affairs, where the sangh still controls the administration and its machinery.

Another case to point out such an enmeshing is the reply made to the Mandsaur firing case. It may be reminded that on June 6, 2017 the countdown of Shivraj Singh government began after the killing of kisans in Mandsaur. The kisans from different political shades got mobilised, it galvanised the entire atmosphere, which eventually led to the defeat of the BJP in assembly elections. The Congress had promised that a case of murder will be registered against the erring officials who ordered firing and false cases against the kisan activists will be taken back. After the formation of Kamal Nath government, this issue was raised in the vidhan sabha. The home minister in the reply exonerated the police and stated that firing by the police was done in self defence. Similar was the finding of the Jain Commission which was formed during the BJP government that endorsed the government version. Once again the Congress had to lick the dust and later it came to light that even this reply was made on the basis of Jain Commission which was out rightly rejected by the people and the Congress itself.  

Kamal Nath and Digvijay Singh , the former CM had to make a statement in the press that the ministers should not blindly trust the bureaucrats and before making any statement must read it thoroughly. Such is the condition of administration and governance. The administration is bent to completely tarnish the image of the government.

Loan waiver of the Kamal Nath government was one of the biggest promises made during the election campaign for the assembly elections. Despite weaknesses in the design of the plan, a large section of the kisans supported the loan waiver scheme of the government. Till the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections only 23 per cent kisans could avail the waiver and Kamal Nath promised that the remaining kisans would get after the parliament elections. However this was made a big issue by the BJP and the PM mocked the scheme himself in public meetings. The Congress released a list of 22 lakh kisans whose loan was waived. But at the behest of the administration banks were used simultaneously to send recovery notices against the debt ridden kisans. The kisans got completely confused and with massive campaign of the BJP that loan waiver is just an eye wash, it was able to puncture the balloon of loan waiver of the government.

After the formation of the Congress government all of a sudden the state is facing an electricity crisis. Though the government has claimed that it is an electricity surplus state but frequent cuts of electricity are experienced in the state. Interestingly the cuts were more prominent when Kamal Nath went to the polling station during the parliament elections to cast his vote or while making a speech during the campaign. This became a laughing stock amongst the people. Then a massive campaign gets unleashed at the behest of the sangh parivar and the BJP that the lantern era of Digvijay Singh is in the offing. Despite having enough electricity production, frequent cuts were real eyesores for the government. Poor administration is accounted to it.

During this period there were communal tensions in a few regions. But the administration targeted the minority community youth; and got them arrested in draconian sections of the penal code. Later after voices were raised, the government intervened and these sections were removed.

The infiltration of the sangh parivar in the administration is not sudden, rather systematic and planned. After the formation of the BJP government in MP two decades ago, lectures were organised. Even Asaram Bapu delivered administration lectures to the officers and asked them to speak ‘jai Sri Ram’, instead of ‘Jai Hind’. Asaram is now in jail. Later during Babulal Gaur period(former CM), ‘vandematram’ chanting became the practice. Then the ban on government officials attending RSS shakhas was lifted. Though Congress had promised to ban the attendance of shakas by government employees, still such an order has not been passed. In just five months, since the Congress won MP state elections, there is a quantitative change in the employees. During assembly elections, the Congress outnumbered BJP in the postal ballot. However, in the parliament elections the reverse happened and BJP was way ahead. 

One big section of the bureaucracy had been campaigning that with the repeat of Modi government at the centre, the MP government may cease to exist. This perception is stronger now; it has completely paralysed the MP government.

The incumbency of the Kamal Nath government will depend on political reasons. But the work of the government is taken to the people through the administration and if the same bureaucracy takes it orders from the sangh parivar then the situation can be easily gauged-‘the BJP is not in the government-but the sangh is in the administration’.