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The recipe of trumping odds: The RSS playbook
Hindustan Times Pune
|October 13, 2025
I have been watching the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) — in its 10Ist year now — for more than 50 years. An obvious curiosity arises about the secret of its success.
People may point out that Uttar Pradesh chief minister (CM) Yogi Adityanath and Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma don’t belong to the RSS fold. That is true, but it is equally true that once you are part of the BJP, you can't escape the RSS ideology.
The political arm of the RSS, the BJP, is leading the coalition that is in its third successive term at the Centre, and the Sangh's ideological roots are deepening. The RSS has achieved this despite stiff opposition from the Communists, socialists, and the Congress Party.
How did the RSS succeed? I would like to elaborate on four instances from different decades of Indian history that help explain this.
This story is from the October 13, 2025 edition of Hindustan Times Pune.
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