Does RSS help BJP politically? JP Nadda's 'runs itself' reply

BJP national president Jagat Prakash Nadda said in an interview that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is the party's "ideological front". Replying to a query on how the RSS' presence within the BJP has changed compared to Atal Bihari Vajpayee's era, JP Nadda said the party's structure has become stronger, and now it runs itself.

JP Nadda said in the interview that during Vajpayee's time, the party needed the RSS (to run itself) because it would have been less capable, smaller.

“Shuru mein hum aksham honge, thora kum honge, RSS ki zaroorat padti thi… Aaj hum badh gaye hain, saksham hai… toh BJP apne aap ko chalati hai (In the beginning, we would have been less capable, smaller and needed the RSS. Today, we have grown and we are capable. The BJP runs itself). That’s the difference," the BJP chief said in an interview with The Indian Express.

When asked if the BJP needs RSS' support, JP Nadda said the party has grown and its leaders perform their own duties and roles. He said the RSS is a "cultural and social" outfit, whereas the BJP is a political party.

JP Nadda said the RSS has been working ideologically.

"We are managing our affairs in our own way. And that’s what political parties should do," he told the newspaper.

JP Nadda further said the BJP doesn't have immediate plans to construct temples in Mathura and Varanasi's dispute sites.

“The BJP does not have any such idea, plan or desire. There are no discussions either," he claimed.

RSS was founded on 27 September, 1925. It has been the BJP's ideological mentor and is known to have helped the party grow from a fledgling outfit to a political behemoth.

Many of the BJP's senior leaders have been RSS workers and members. Mohan Bhagwat leads the organisation.

The BJP's Lok Sabha election campaign has so far centered around its promise of development and its allegation that the Congress would snatch away reservation granted to SC, ST and OBC communities.