The RSS: Icons of the Indian Right

by Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay

It was clear that Syama Prasad was caught in a cleft stick between his commitment to the Hindu Mahasabha, and his duties as a minister in Nehru’s Cabinet. As he had accepted to Nehru, while he hoisted the Mahasabha flag reiterating his allegiance to the party, he also tried convincing his mentor, V.D. Savarkar that the Mahasabha must restrict its political character and metamorphose into a social, cultural and religious organisation. In so far as the Congress party was concerned, despite the inclusion of a Hindu Mahasabha member as a minister in the government, the antagonistic views apropos Hindu nationalists persisted amongst most of its members. However one group led by Sardar Patel in the Congress wished closer ties with the Mahasabha, even suggesting a merger with the party for it felt that it was Syama Prasad Mookerjee who was instrumental in making the Mahasabha ‘less aggressive than the (Muslim) League and less irresponsible.’52 But Jawaharlal Nehru, much like several times before, opposed the move and in a letter to Mookerjee dated 28 January 1948 (exactly two days prior to Gandhi’s assassination) wrote that the Mahasabha was the ‘main opposition’ to both the Congress and his government. The prime minister also wrote to the Director of Intelligence Bureau (IB) and drew his attention to the ‘increasingly aggressive and offensive activities’ of the Mahasabha.