Is RSS uneasy over Suresh Soni's growing role? Questions after Dhankhar given Dussehra stage

The Dussehra festival of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is its biggest event every year, and the world watches which direction RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat will speak in. This time too, people expected Bhagwat to say something about the discord within the BJP. The biggest reason for the speculation was that former Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar attended the event as a guest.

The question being raised is why the RSS gave its platform to Dhankhar, who had to face the displeasure of the BJP's top leaders. The question of who really holds sway in the BJP, the government, the party organisation or those RSS faces with deep roots in both, is also back in discussion. The debate has heated up after Suresh Soni's steadily growing role in the BJP and Dhankhar being given space on the RSS stage. To answer whether the two are connected, and whether inviting Dhankhar was a strategy to send someone a political message, one must understand the old relationship between the RSS and the BJP.

Soni was once in the RSS's top leadership. The question is whether he is more active in BJP decisions than before, or whether his influence is the result of old organisational contacts. Leaders with an RSS background in the BJP are nothing new. But how big one individual's role should be in political appointments, organisational changes and mediation between leaders is a separate question. Soni's direct interference in political decisions in Madhya Pradesh is making him controversial.

It is being said that Bhagwat has told Soni plainly several times to stop interfering in the BJP. He no longer holds responsibility for coordination between the RSS and the BJP. Even so, he is seen behind many big decisions within the BJP. His name has come up in several matters, from the choice of the Madhya Pradesh chief minister to getting former home minister Narottam Mishra's ticket from Datia cut. In difficult times for the Madhya Pradesh government, he is often seen in the role of coordinator. His recent meetings in Chitrakoot and Rewa were also discussed.

As for the RSS's discomfort, it is said to be uneasy over why the "Delhi durbar" is giving Soni excessive importance. The question is also whether the BJP's Delhi leadership is trying to show the RSS as weak. There is an established way of coordination between the BJP and the RSS, and the question is why decisions are being made to suit Soni instead. It can also be asked how far other RSS leaders should have a role in BJP decisions, and how the balance of influence within the organisation should be maintained. The controversy has intensified after a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Soni at the residence of Minister Piyush Goyal. It is said that even when Soni held responsibility for coordination between the BJP and the RSS, the RSS did not like his heavy interference in the BJP. That is why he was abruptly removed from the post and quietly sent on study leave.

Jagdeep Dhankhar resigned as Vice-President on 21 July 2025, citing health reasons. His sudden resignation raised many political questions. The biggest reason cited was the displeasure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. It was said that Dhankhar paid the price for this and did not get the farewell a Vice-President receives on leaving office.

For this reason, Dhankhar's invitation to the RSS's centenary-year Vijayadashami event became a talking point. Questions arose whether it was merely a gesture to honour a former Vice-President, or whether the RSS wanted to underline its independent public identity. It was also asked whether there was a larger political message behind it, at a time when all is not well within the BJP, and whether the RSS wants to stare down the BJP's top team using Dhankhar as a pretext. The real question in the RSS-BJP relationship is bigger than any one person's presence or absence. It is how the balance of power should be maintained in political decisions among the elected leadership, the party organisation and experienced office-bearers with an RSS background.