RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has obliquely sought to distance his cadres from the BJP while another Sangh leader celebrated the party’s poll setback, continuing the ideological parent’s assault on its political arm following the poor general election showing.

Bhagwat, who had launched a veiled attack on the "arrogant" Narendra Modi-Amit Shah regime early this week, on Friday urged RSS leaders and cadres in Uttar Pradesh to return to their "original task of helping the people".

The message is being seen as a nudge to them to keep power politics, and therefore the BJP, at arm’s length.

Senior RSS functionary Indresh Kumar targeted the BJP more directly, accusing it of "arrogance" and portraying the bloody nose it received in the Lok Sabha polls as Lord Ram's justice.

"See the vidhan (justice) of Ram Rajya in the festival of democracy," Kumar said in Jaipur on Thursday at an event to flag off a Ramrath Yatra to Ayodhya.

"Those who worshipped Ram but slowly became arrogant, that party was declared the largest party. But the votes and the power it should have got, God stopped it because of their arrogance."

Kumar, who heads the Muslim Rashtriya Manch, an RSS-affiliated front to woo the minority community, also took a swipe at the Opposition parties saying Ram had punished them too.

“Those who opposed Ram, none of them could get power. Even by coming together, all of them stood at number two instead of number one. That is why God’s justice is not strange but (represents) the truth,” he said.

While Kumar’s attack on the BJP appeared inspired by Bhagwat’s stinging censure of the “ahankar” (arrogance) of the “sevak” (servant) on Tuesday, the RSS chief’s comments at a closed-door training camp for the outfit’s cadres in Gorakhpur on Friday carried no lesser import.

(“Sevak” seemed an allusion to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who often describes himself as Pradhan Sevak.)

“The RSS is going to complete its 100 years soon (next year). It has faced many challenges and worked hard for society. Now is the time to take up its original task of helping the people,” Bhagwat was quoted as telling cadres of eastern Uttar Pradesh on Friday.

“We need to contemplate how we can stay relevant to society and instil positivity in the people.”

Bhagwat’s message to RSS cadres to return to their “original task” comes at a time when many in the outfit appear to be savouring the fruits of power by getting deeply involved with BJP members. This, according to key RSS leaders, threatens to erode the organisation’s distinct identity.

On Friday evening, Kumar offered a clarification of his remarks but no retraction. “The country’s atmosphere now is very clear. Those opposed to Ram are out of power and Ram bhakts have returned to power for a third term under the leadership of Narendra Modi,” he told ANI.

The differences between parent and offspring have been growing for some time and led the RSS ground forces in many constituencies to stay off active electioneering for BJP candidates. In contrast, the RSS had thrown heart and soul into canvassing votes for the BJP in 2014 and 2019.

“It was becoming difficult after the BJP’s victory in 2014 to differentiate between RSS and BJP workers,” a political observer in Lucknow said.

“There was a general feeling that RSS cadres were busy seeking personal gratification and functioning like their political counterparts. This could have eroded the Sangh’s base, and so it withdrew its workers from the election campaign.”

The first signs of discord had become visible during the January 22 consecration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

Govind Giri, treasurer of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, had in his post-consecration speech eulogised Modi as “Chhatrapati Shivaji” reborn while describing him as a “godsend”, “saint”, “tapasvi” and the “holiest” (of humans).

Bhagwat had reacted in his address at the event by advising people to “stay in our senses”.

While castigating “arrogance” on Tuesday, Bhagwat had also condemned the “bitter” election campaign by both sides that he said had endangered social harmony. He did not elaborate.

Modi had engaged in fear-mongering about Muslims during the campaign — for instance, accusing the Congress of planning to confiscate women’s mangalsutras and distributing them among “those who have more children”.

Yogi ‘meeting’

Bhagwat had arrived in Gorakhpur — seat of the Gorakhpur Mutt where BJP chief minister Yogi Adityanath is head priest — on Thursday and is scheduled to stay in the city for four days.

Sources said a meeting between him and Adityanath was likely on Saturday.

Such a meeting, if it happens, would arouse keen interest against the backdrop of the BJP’s poor poll showing, particularly in eastern Uttar Pradesh constituencies. These include Varanasi, where Modi’s victory margin was substantially reduced this time.

The BJP won only 33 of the state’s 80 seats, down from 62 in 2019.

Many within the central BJP leadership feel that Adityanath should be held accountable for the electoral setback in the heartland state. Leaders close to Adityanath, however, blame the poor performance on Shah and his team’s “arbitrary” selection of candidates.

Adityanath is widely believed to have been the RSS pick for the chief minister’s post, which he assumed in 2017.