Kathmandu: At a time the commentariat in Kathmandu is discussing the pros and cons of India’s general election outcomes for Nepal and its possible ramifications on Kathmandu-New Delhi ties, a member of federal parliament in Kathmandu revealed shocking details of what the Rastriya Swayamsevhak Sangh (RSS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had up their sleeves if Narendra Modi, now the third term prime minister of India, returned to power stronger than in his first and second terms or as strong as he was then.
Narendra Modi’s BJP won 240 seats, falling short of the 272 seats required to form a majority government. Rahul Gandhi’s Indian National Congress (INC) won 99 seats. Currently BJP leads a coalition government with its alliance which together holds a total of 293 seats in the 543 member Lok Sabha, India’s lower house.
Calculation in Kathmandu is that PM Modi’s power and influence has somehow diminished and he has returned to power humbled and accommodative.
Amresh Kumar Singh, an MP in Nepal’s federal parliament, said that Modi’s diminished power is a blessing in disguise for Nepal and India. While speaking at a discussion program organized by Tanka Prasad Acharya Memorial Trust and moderated by senior journalist Kanak Mani Dixit in Kathmandu on Monday, Singh said that BJP gaining similar strength as in 2019 would be detrimental for Nepal’s constitution, republic, federalism and secularism. “If the BJP had won a single majority, there would be no democracy in India and there would be no democracy in Nepal either,” he said. “Autocratic Modi in India would embolden leaders with autocratic bent in Kathmandu to undermine democracy, constitution and secularism.”
A strong and all-powerful Indian PM has always been unkind to smaller states in the neighborhood, he said. “All powerful Nehru annexed Hyderabad and Jammu and Kashmir. Indira Gandhi annexed Sikkim. She had a game plan for Nepal and Bhutan as well. If Modi returned stronger, Nepal’s existence could be under danger. Nepal’s integrity would vanish,” Singh said, responding to questions asked by journalist Kanak Mani Dixit.
He also revealed how the RSS, the right-wing Hindu nationalist formation which is considered to be the ideological mentor of the BJP, was becoming dominant in India’s domestic politics as well as in its international relations including in relations with SAARC countries including Nepal.
“The RSS became so powerful from 2019-2024 that it began to control India’s relations with Nepal. And Nepali leaders from top to bottom made appeasing RSS as their key priority,” he said.
“Nearly every single political leader here had started to advocate for Hindutva directly and indirectly. To please the RSS and BJP they began to wear saffron dresses during their visits to Indian temples. This was because RSS was becoming dominant and India state-actors had become weak in managing relations with Nepal,” Singh said.
“From Sher Bahadur Deuba to NP Saud to Nain Singh Mahar all submitted themselves to appease the RSS.”
According to him, the RSS factor was huge during the 2022 Nepal elections. “Their agenda in 2022 was that not a single JNU scholar should become an MP in Nepal, nor Muslim,” he said. “Rajan Bhattarai would win instead of Gagan Thapa in Kathmandu but because he (Bhattarai) was a JNU fellow RSS played the game UML supported it and Bhattarai lost the election.”
He also said that RSS had its hands in fuelling riots in Madhesh, about which the government of Nepal could not do anything. “The Home Minister of the time was pleading with RSS to prevent escalation of violence.”
He also revealed that the RSS had a hand in denying him an election ticket in the 2022 elections. “It was not Deuba who denied me the ticket, Deuba denied me the ticket because he was told to do so by the RSS,” Singh said.
He further said that Nepal’s democracy was getting derailed because of India. If Modi returned to power as powerful as in 2019 and 2014, he would become the Vladimir Putin of South Asia.
He claimed that RSS has its penetration in every single party in Nepal and it has influenced some of the retired army generals as well. Adding that media is no exception, he said that several media persons in Nepal are on payroll of RSS. “I am sorry to say this, but let me tell you this. More than 100 journalists in Nepal are paid by the RSS,” he said.
According to Singh, the election results in India have come as a great relief to the Nepali leaders. “I can see that after the election results in India, Nepali leaders are breathing a sigh of relief. They are less afraid,” he said. “India’s target was to destroy CPN-UML. India is uncomfortable with the current government in Nepal.”
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