RSS leader Ram Madhav has termed the Lok Sabha results "a mandate for humility", stressing that the third term of the Narendra Modi-led NDA calls for "greater accommodation and responsible politics", obliquely hinting at the unease in the relationship between the BJP and the parent body.

Madhav's views come in the backdrop of growing murmurs of the RSS leadership upset with the BJP's "arrogant" poll cry of "Abki baar 400 paar" and also the "arbitrary" selection of candidates.

"The victory of the Narendra Modi-led NDA for the third time will be a parliamentary record. However, the situation calls for greater accommodation and responsible politics from both sides," Madhav, a member of the RSS's national executive, suggested in an opinion piece titled "A mandate for humility" published by The Indian Express on Saturday.

Madhav, who had served as the general secretary in the BJP during the first tenure of the Modi government, said the return of "coalition politics" and a "stronger Opposition" was significant, adding a politically loaded remark that "coalitions are great levellers".

"Mahatma Gandhi is remembered for many things. But he was the first to introduce coalition politics in the pre-Independence era. His success lay in humility and civility, qualities that the Indian polity is in dire need of. Coalitions are great levellers. Hope we witness the restoration of these virtues in our polity in the coming years," Madhav said. He said the 2024 results had "flabbergasted" him but now "different facets of the mandate are unfolding clearly".

Madhav couldn't be contacted for comments and some RSS leaders refused to say anything on record. "The article represents his (Madhav's) personal views and not of the RSS," a leader from the Sangh said. Another RSS functionary said Madhav was upset with the BJP leadership for "personal reasons" and the article could be a reflection of it and not necessarily the position of the RSS. Madhav was shunted from the BJP and sent to the RSS in 2021 following reports that he crossed paths with then party chief Amit Shah.

However, the unease in the relationship between the RSS and the BJP has also come out in the comments of BJP chief J.P. Nadda during the last rounds of the elections. "In the beginning, we would have been less capable, smaller and needed the RSS. Today, we (the BJP) have grown and we are capable. The BJP runs itself," Nadda had told The Indian Express when asked about the difference in the position of the RSS from Atal Bihari Vajpayee's time to Modi's term.

The Sangh mouthpiece, The Organiser, on Saturday, put out on X the cover of their upcoming publication on the 2024 mandate titled: "Historic but Introspective".