The BJP-led coalition government has lifted the ban on government employees taking part in activities of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or RSS, an organisation which has been banned three times since India attained independence.

The RSS was banned days after Gandhiji’s assassination by Nathuram Godse in 1948, during the Emergency by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and under civil society pressure after the demolition of the Babri Masjid in December 1992.

Interestingly, the restriction on central government employees associating with the RSS remained in force during the first two terms of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and under Atal Bihari Vajpayee during his 1998-2004 terms.

So, the question that arises is: why now? Is Modi trying to appease the RSS after facing an electoral setback? Didn’t RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat indirectly poke fun at Modi saying he wasn’t biological during the recent election campaign? Does this decision have anything to do with what appear to be efforts to remove Adityanath as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh?

Guest: Nilanjan Mukhopadyay, independent journalist, columnist and author.

Host: Amit Baruah, Senior Associate Editor, The Hindu.

Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian.

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