There has been a spreading tendency among the opposition to define women’s empowerment through the narrow vocabulary of liberation, rebellion and Confrontation. The latest trending phrase is “Smash the Patriarchy” as though the development and empowerment of women in Bharat begins with rejecting everything associated with family, tradition, culture and inherited social relationships. Through the lens of the oppositions, if a woman thinks only of herself, abandons Bhartiya culture, and does whatever she wants, that is the true meaning of women’s freedom.
On the other hand- to empower women without asking them to abandon their roots, to give them equality without demanding that they become imitate men, to recognise family without reducing women to family roles, to transform women from beneficiaries into decision-makers, entrepreneurs, leaders and nation builders. This is the broader philosophical space in which BJP-RSS’s understanding of Nari Shakti deserves to be examined.
The BJP-RSS vision sees women as the strength and backbone of the country. They recognise women as Shakti who have the ability to lead, create, contribute and shape the social, economic and national destiny of Bharat.
Shakti : The Bhartiya idea of strength
The idea of Shakti occupies the distinctive place in Bhartiya thought. Womanhood has historically been associated with strength, knowledge, prosperity, creativity and courage. But the contemporary importance of this idea should not be reduced to placing women on the pedestal. Respect alone is not empowerment.
The RSS’s own public articulation recognises this distinction.
In his 2022 Vijayadashami address, RSS Sarsanghchalak Dr. Mohan Bhagwat ji cautioned against two extremes: placing women on a divine pedestal and effectively freezing them there, or treating them as second-class citizens and restricting them to domestic spaces. He advocated women’s progress and empowerment across all spheres, including participation and equity in decision-making.
The principle is therefore clear: the purpose is not to worship women from a distance but to enable women to participate fully in society, make decisions, pursue opportunities and exercise responsibilities.
Beyond Beti, Behan and Didi: Equality without erasing difference
In a recent article by Trinamool Congress MP Sagarika Ghose, she criticised the BJP-RSS vocabulary for women, she says it runs through relationship with men of i.ebehen, beti, and didi. Does a father only have a betianda mother doesn’t? Does a brother only have an elder sister(behen) whom he calls a didi or a younger sister also have a didi (behen)?. Then how it became only male-referenced relation? There is nothing inherently diminishing about recognising a woman as beti, behen or didi. These are relationships of affection, responsibility and social connection. These identities are not becoming the boundary of the women’s existence.
A women can be a daughter, sister and mother; professional, entrepreneur and political leader at a same time. Family and individuality do not need to be competing identities.The perception that cultural relationship automatically diminish women reflects a vey narrow comprehension of empowerment.
Dr. Mohan Bhagwat ji, RSS Chief has explicitly stated that between men and women, neither is higher nor the lower and that both have equal role and contribution in the welfare of the family and the nation. He described men and women as complementary partners in social organisation.
RSS and women’s independent agency
An important dimension that deserves serious considerations is the claim that the RSS is inherently a male-dominated organisation with no space for women’s leadership or independent agency. Such a conclusion overlooks the long organisational history of women within the wider Sangh tradition.An independent but inhereting same ideology, a women-led organisation Rashtra Sevika Samiti, established in 1936 by Laxmibai Kelkar with the wider objective of nurturing women’s leadership, social responsibility, cultural confidence and national consciousness.
Its importance can be understood from the fact that instead of becoming mere participants in an organisation designed by men; they were inspired to organise themselves, develop their intellectual and physical capabilities, cultivate leadership and become active contributors to society and the nation.The very existence and continuity of this women-led organisation for nearly nine decades challenges the simplistic assumption that the Sangh tradition views women only through the lens of domesticity. Women do not need to be represented by men in order to exercise agency; they must be equipped to organise, lead, decide and act for themselves.
The BJP’s women at decision-making table
The BJP’s 1998 manifesto has a dedicated to women’s dignity, rights, political representation, economic rights, equal wages, employment and workplace equality. The BJP’s political argument for women’s representation did not begin with the Modi government’s electoral vocabulary; it has been part of its formal policy position for decades. In 2026 PMO explicitly described the development paradigm as moving from Women’s development for Women-led development, with women participation in STEM, entrepreneurship, science, innovation, governance and emerging technologies.
BJP not merely see women as primary symbolic figures, the women in party have occupied positions of actual authority within the party and government. Leaders such as Sushama Swaraj rose to become Chief Minister, Leader of opposition and later External Affairs Minister. Once party’s spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman later became Defence Minister and subsequently Finance Minister. Vasundhara Raje, Smriti Irani, D.K.Aruna, Vijaya Rahatkar, Vanathi Shriniwasan and many women have occupied significant national organisational responsibilities. If women were merely electoral symbols, why give BJP has given them portfolios such as: Finance Ministry, Defence Ministry, External Affairs, Chief Ministership, National General Secretary, Nation Vice President, Leader of Opposition. That’s the distinction between representation and authority.
The real test of a political power’s attitude towards women is not how often it calls a women ‘beti’, ‘behen’ or ‘didi’; it is whether it trust women with power!
