Right-wing think-tanks eat into Left's mindspace

When Amit Shah, in his first address after being ratified as BJP president, said it was time to ensure that the party ideology has an imprint on the country's politics, it was not just the party cadre but right-wing think tanks which were weighing every word he spoke.

Shah's message had defined the role for think-tanks in Narendra Modi's regime.

With around a dozen in the Capital itself and at least one in each state, these Sangh Parivar organisations had started mushrooming over recent years to counter the domination of Left-leaning think-tanks and capture some of the intellectual space from them. A BJP leader associated with a research wing of the party said the right-wing intellectuals were treated like pariah and the attempt was to do away with this "untouchability of nationalist ideology".

The mandate for the BJP to rule has endowed the Sangh Parivar think-tanks with a new and more active role. "Here is a prime minister who has stated he believes in policy driven governance and therefore all kinds of policy inputs, studies and policy-related comparative analysis will help government to carve out policy suited to changing times. In this context all such organisations related to policy have become more important," says Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, BJP vice-president who heads the Public Policy Research Centre. He is also director general of the Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini, which trains elected representatives.

The research centre, which has been asked to pass on studies to concerned ministries and the Prime MInister's Office, has already forwarded papers on issues like agriculture policy, water management and PDS in Chhattisgarh.

The pro-RSS Vivekenanda International Foundation came into limelight when three major appointments-- National security advisor Ajit Doval, principal secretary Nripendra Misra and additional principal secretary PK Mishra — were made from it. The foundation is a project of Kanyakumari's Vivekananda Kendra established by RSS ideologue Eknath Ranade.

However, KG Suresh, senior fellow and editor of the foundation, denies it has any affiliation with the BJP or RSS. "We are an independent, nationalist think tank. We don't take funding from any political party," he said.

Like the VIF, India Foundation, started around eight years ago with the efforts of RSS's Ram Madhav who is now in the BJP, on its website describes itself as an "independent research centre" focussed on issues, challenges and opportunities of Indian polity. It does add that it seeks to articulate Indian national perspective on issues.

The Foundation, which has on its board of directors former Ram Madhav, Shiv Sena minister Suresh Prabhu, NSA's son Shaurya Doval, who heads an investment and strategic advisory firm Zeus Caps, BJP MP Jayant Sinha and Sahasrabuddhe among others, had recently organised a two-day bilateral conference on "Prospects of India-China relations".

"The role of all think-tanks is to provide policy inputs. They should also try to pursue track-II efforts," said Sinha.

The think-tanks have been there for some time and earlier there used to be "thinkers meetings" in various cities, a Sangh functionary said. The idea was also aimed at creating awareness among the cadre on perspective of ideology, he said.