The latest issue of The Organiser, the magazine brought out by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) — a right-wing Hindu nationalist group that India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) owes its allegiance to — has Mahatma Gandhi on its cover. While Gandhi had been featured in the RSS mouthpiece in the past, it is the timing of this latest cover photo that merits a closer scrutiny. Also consider two other recent developments. Firstly, the launch of the Swachh Bharat or Clean India mission by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the birth anniversary of Gandhi on October 2; and second, the address by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat that was telecast live by the national broadcaster, Doordarshan, on the occasion of the Hindu festival of Dasera on October 3.

As isolated, stand-alone incidents, there is nothing wrong, per say, with any of these. In keeping with Modi’s election pitch of sab ka saath, sab ka vikas (let’s join hands for inclusive growth), RSS opting for Gandhi as a cover photo is like matching vibes with the ruling party’s appeal to a wider audience. Then, take the Swachh Bharat mission as another case in point. Perhaps for the first time in the history of Indian politics, the office of a public servant as august as that of a prime minister has taken up the cudgels to instil a sense of hygiene among the aam aadmi (common man). Pictures of a broom-wielding PM have gone viral on social networking sites and various mass media platforms. Launching it on Gandhi’s birthday only goes to reveal a sense of the occasion. Finally, Bhagwat’s speech on Doordarshan. In terms of content, there was nothing contentious about what Bhagwat had to say. One of the major issues that his hour-long address dealt with was the proliferation of Chinese products in Indian markets – a subject that will find ready-resonance among the vast majority of Indians, irrespective of their religious or political affiliations. So far, so good.

But dig a little deeper into each of these developments and the thread that binds them becomes all too obvious. That thread is of an urge to seek socio-cultural legitimacy and efforts at brand-building through co-optation of timeless icons of mass appeal. Gandhi had never been known to have a tremendous fan-following within the RSS rank and file. In fact, six decades since the assassination of Gandhi, RSS still finds itself struggling to shake off the stigma of being associated with right-wing, fascist elements that were instrumental in having fomented an anti-Gandhi cult among a section of Indians who were opposed to the nation’s secular ethos and saw Gandhi as the biggest obstacle towards realising the dream of establishing a rightist, fundamentalist state. So when RSS decides to have Gandhi on the cover of its magazine, it does smack of an attempt at course correction in a latent form. Similarly, Modi’s new-found penchant for all things Gandhian, his clarion call to rid India of garbage, his Madison Square Garden speech promising a memorable 150th Gandhi birth anniversary celebration in 2019 must all be seen in tandem with a very subtle attempt at usurping an apolitical message and presenting it within the domain of a wider, social discourse.

‘Bolder, better India’ mission

In other words, the canvas of the brand-building exercise that was so efficiently unfurled with BJP anointing Modi as its prime ministerial candidate last year, has now been extended well beyond the confines of the political arena and into the larger, social context of a ‘bolder, better India’ mission. In terms of realpolitik, the two biggest threats that BJP faced prior to its ascendance to power at the Centre were a behemoth in the form of the Congress and a nascent outfit in the form of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). While mass disenchantment among the electorate saw Congress decimated, AAP’s juvenile delinquency with power put paid to its electoral hopes. But Modi knows it only too well that it may not be sound policy to write off these two entities as yet. Apart from fighting off opposition at the political level, there ought to be some kind of a parallel, social movement to convey a sense of inclusiveness among the masses and shut out rivals. The Congress had always treated Gandhi’s proximity to the party and its leader Jawaharlal Nehru as its political capital, while the AAP had captured the imagination of a section of the electorate — particularly among the urban, educated, middle class — with its electoral symbol of a broom and its high-octane stance against corruption within the political class. Now, with PM Modi’s Swachh Bharat mission and the RSS pandering to Gandhian sensitivities and batting for the ‘Made in India’ tag, the recluse of Sabarmati Ashram and the ubiquitous broom have both ceased to be symbols of any specific political agenda and have been effectively transformed into weapons of mass distraction! If brand-building through ‘Mission Modi’ was the hallmark of a successful electoral campaign, then brand-dilution in the form of co-opting Gandhi and the broom constitute the Modi masterclass.

The question is: Will India’s electorate be too naive to accept this at face value?