The RSS: Icons of the Indian Right (New Edition) - Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay

The definitive, unvarnished look inside the world’s largest cadre-based organization. Written by veteran political journalist and bestselling biographer Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, this updated new edition of The RSS: Icons of the Indian Right provides an unparalleled, comprehensive profiling of the ideological architects and political giants who built the modern Indian Right.

A persistent fog of mystery and intense debate surrounds the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). To understand the staggering trajectory of contemporary Indian politics, one must understand the internal mechanics, historical fractures, and foundational leaders of this massive organization. Mukhopadhyay—the acclaimed author of Narendra Modi: The Man, the Times—lays bare this fascinating and complex world, digging up little-known but deeply revealing archival facts about the movement's personal and political journeys.

Rather than looking at the organization as a monolith, this brilliant volume chronicles the history of the Hindu Right through individual, deeply researched biographies of its tallest leaders. From its founder and first Sarsanghchalak, K.B. Hegdewar, alongside M.S. Golwalkar, Balasaheb Deoras, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Syama Prasad Mukherjee, and Deendayal Upadhyaya, to the frontline political figures who took the ideology into public spaces—Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Lal Krishna Advani, Vijaya Raje Scindia, Ashok Singhal, and Bal Thackeray—every major figure is rigorously reckoned with. The book carefully traces how, despite facing three separate bans in a multicultural and secular India, and despite its historical insistence on remaining a cultural entity, the RSS has consistently functioned as the single most vital foundational pillar shaping the political landscape. It is an essential, objective read for political scholars, civil services aspirants, history enthusiasts, and anyone seeking to understand the shifting tides of modern Indian statecraft.

Core Features Inside This Comprehensive Political History:

• Deep Biographical Profiling: Moves past generalized commentary to provide sharp, individual psychological and political portraits of the Right's core archit

  • Expert Investigative Reportage: Authored by a veteran journalist who has tracked the rise of Hindu organizations on the ground since the early 1980s.

  • Nuanced Institutional Analysis: Examines the intricate, evolving relationship between cultural ideology, organizational cadre building, and modern electoral politics.