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The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) would have been happier if certain names had not been included in the Council of Ministers in the Narendra Modi government.
According to Sangh sources, though the organisation’s suggestions with regard to individuals to be included in the ministry were considered, the selection of Smriti Irani for the “important ministry” of human resource development (HRD) could have been avoided. A few Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Sangh leaders have conveyed their reservations on this to RSS Sah Sarkaryavah Suresh Soni.
However, the Sangh doesn’t want to make it an issue, as it hopes that by appointing “good advisors and officers” ideologically close to it could rectify the situation. Also, the Sangh had given a free hand to Modi to select his team.
“Ideally, HRD should have gone to a senior leader with ideological perspective. I am not suggesting she’s incompetent or inefficient. She might emerge a successful minister,” said a Sangh leader who doesn’t want to be named. Though some BJP leaders are also upset with the Irani’s elevation, they refused to comment on the issue.
HRD is a very crucial ministry in the Sangh Parivar scheme of things. The Sangh thinks the education system in the country has been vitiated by “westernised and Left-leaning intelligentsia” and it needs to be rectified.
In the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, the HRD ministry was handled by Murli Manohar Joshi, one of the senior-most leaders, with proven “educational credentials and ideological commitment”.
