STRAINED TIES
12 OUTLOOK 5 August 2019
by Giridhar JhaS
TEALTH, surveillance, stake-
out—and subterfuge, some-
times—are common devices
the enemy employs to bone up
on its rivals. When similar tac-
tics are deployed against a
partner-in-power, trouble touches
the shore. The case in point is a recent
order to the Bihar Police’s Special
Branch to ‘spy’ on the Rashtriya Swa-
yamsevak Sangh (RSS)—the BJP’s
ideological fountainhead—and many
of its affiliates. The move has set off
speculation over the fate of chief min-
ister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (Uni-
ted)-BJP coalition government ahead
of the 2020 assembly elections.
The genesis of this ninjutsu operation
can be traced to a letter—dated May 28
and posted barely five days after the
BJP retained power at the Centre with
a massive 3-nought-3 verdict, and two
days before Narendra Modi’s NDA gov-
ernment was to be sworn in for a second
term. The missive from the superinten-
dent of police (general) of the Special
Branch, which reports to the home
dep artment headed by the chief minis-
ter himself, was clear. It directed all
DSPs and district Special Branch off-
icers to gather and give details of the
RSS and its 18 affiliates operating in
their areas. The report—containing
names, addresses, phone numbers, and
occupations of all office-bearers—must
be submitted “within a week”.
“This should be considered extremely
important,” says the confidential letter
that got leaked last week.
Apart from the RSS, the letter named
the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang
Dal, Hindu Jagaran Samiti, Dharam
Jagaran Samanway Samiti, Muslim
Rashtriya Manch, Hindu Rashtra Sena,
Rashtriya Sevika Samiti, Shiksha Bharti,
Durga Vahini, Swadeshi Jagaran Manch,
Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, Bharatiya Maz-
door Sangh, Bharatiya Railway Sangh,
Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Pari shad,
Akhil Bharatiya Shikshak Maha sangh,
Hindu Mahasabha, Hindu Yuva Vahini,
and Hindu Putra Sanghthan.
The directive left BJP leaders in Bihar
fuming. Party MLC Sanjay Mayukh
raised the issue in the legislative council
during its monsoon session, demanding
a reply from the government. Another
party lawmaker, Sachidanand Rai, ques-tioned the motive of Nitish, saying he
was interested in remaining the chief
minister regardless of which alliance he
is part of. Elsewhere, Union minister
Giriraj Singh wondered “why such a let-
ter had been issued by the Bihar Police
when the JD(U)-BJP government was in
power in Bihar and its deputy chief
minister Sushil Kumar Modi (of the
BJP) himself is a product of ABVP?”
As the controversy escalated and the
BJP reacted sharply, the Nitish govern-
ment feigned ignorance about the letter.
The state police headquarters hurriedly
convened a press conference to assert
that neither the government nor the
police top brass was aware of it. Accor-ding to ADG (Special Branch) J.S.
Gangwar, it was a routine letter issued
by the SP (general), Rajeev Ranjan, and
does not have the approval of the home
department, the DGP or the police
headquarters. “The government was
also in no way involved in the whole
exercise,” he avers.
Special Branch sources say they had
received some inputs on possible
threats to leaders of the RSS and its
various affiliates in the run-up to the
Lok Sabha elections and the SP’s letter
was merely a follow-up action. SP
Ranjan, who had issued the letter and
was transferred since, is currently on a
training sortie outside Bihar.Is police lens on RSS and affiliates a Nitish Kumar
mock drill to checkmate BJP before 2020 polls?Friendly Litti,
Spycy Chokha