Article Today, New Delhi:
A recent India Today investigation has revealed that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) played a covert but crucial role in supporting the Congress Party during the 1984 Lok Sabha elections. The Congress, led by Rajiv Gandhi, secured a record 414 seats in the polls that followed Indira Gandhi’s assassination. Contrary to the popular perception that the massive mandate stemmed only from sympathy, the report suggests that the RSS extended behind-the-scenes support to Rajiv Gandhi’s leadership.
Secret Meetings with RSS Leaders
According to the report, Rajiv Gandhi held a series of secret meetings with senior RSS leaders during the national crisis following his mother’s assassination. Among them were then Sarsanghchalak Balasaheb Deoras and his brother Bhaurao Deoras. These meetings, reportedly six in total, included at least one held at a Delhi industrialist’s residence. The discussions allegedly led to the RSS mobilising its cadre to back Congress candidates. This internal push, coupled with a national sympathy wave, helped Congress achieve an unprecedented 49 percent vote share.
Indira’s Perceived Hindutva Appeal
Despite strained relations during the Emergency, the RSS leadership had developed a cautious respect for Indira Gandhi’s approach in her later years. Her temple visits and overt religious imagery reportedly led the Sangh to view her as a leader aligned with Hindu sentiments. After her death, RSS ideologue Nanaji Deshmukh publicly called for support to Rajiv Gandhi to ensure national stability. This endorsement, according to the India Today story, was a key factor in Congress’s overwhelming victory.
BJP Sidelined Over Secular Stance
At the time, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), formed only four years earlier in 1980, did not enjoy the RSS’s active backing. The report notes that senior BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s emphasis on secularism had caused friction within the organisation. His refusal to define the BJP strictly as a “Hindutva party” reportedly distanced the RSS. In contrast, Congress under Indira and Rajiv Gandhi was seen as more receptive to soft-Hindu political symbolism, making the party a pragmatic choice for the Sangh’s support in 1984.
Shifting Equations After the Shah Bano Case
However, the informal understanding between the Congress and the RSS soon began to erode. Rajiv Gandhi’s government overturned the Supreme Court’s verdict in the Shah Bano case in 1985, a move widely criticised as appeasement politics. The decision alienated Hindu voters, prompting the Congress to compensate by allowing the unlocking of the Babri Masjid site in Ayodhya. Although this temporarily calmed Hindu sentiment, it inadvertently laid the groundwork for the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, strengthening the BJP in the long run.
A Full Circle in Political Relations
The Congress’s present-day demand for a ban on the RSS contrasts sharply with the political reality of 1984, when the organisation’s tacit support helped secure the party’s historic victory. The India Today report underscores how shifting ideological positions and political compulsions have transformed the Congress–RSS dynamic over the past four decades—from discreet cooperation to open confrontation. The revelations shed light on one of modern India’s most intriguing political turnarounds, offering new insight into the complex and often pragmatic intersections between ideology, power, and survival in Indian politics.
