BJP winning Delhi assembly elections held on Wednesday with massive RSS pracharak’s participation in the poll battle is entwined with the basic issue of RSS’s existence and accomplishing its mission of Hindu Rashtra, more than Narendra Modi using the victory to showcase his supremacy. It also gets endorsed by the fact that it has deployed around one lakh cadres and swayamsevaks to help BJP win the election. To ensure that the mistakes of Haryana and Maharashtra are not repeated and its coordination with Delhi BJP leaders works efficiently, RSS has entrusted its four senior leaders, of the rank of secretaries, with the task for monitoring.
Almost all the polling booths have been manned by the RSS cadres. Even in the Muslim dominated areas, the RSS cadres have taken the charge. Senior RSS leaders confide that its cadres are approaching the voters and requesting them to go to the booth early for casting their votes.
The movement of the RSS cadres makes it absolutely clear that RSS was in complete charge of Delhi assembly elections. It is not that in their desperation to win the election it has sidetracked the BJP cadres and leaders who are identified as the supporters of Modi or Amit Shah. The difference between election campaigning in Haryana and Maharashtra with that of Delhi is quite perceptible on the ground. In Haryana elections, BJP secured 48 out of 90 seats, while in Maharashtra, the NDA won 237 of the 288 seats. Though BJP won., the RSS leaders feel their performance was not satisfactory. They could have done better, if they had started preparations earlier.
While the RSS had coordinated the assembly elections of Haryana and Maharashtra with the state BJP leaders and cadres, in Delhi the BJP cadres have been directed to follow the RSS guidelines and work according to its electoral strategy. Though RSS had put its best in the elections to the two states, there remained some void, like effective booth management and convince the voters of its relevance for attaining the political mission.
A month back the RSS had held a joint meeting with the state BJP leaders and told them in clear and tough tone that they should keep aside their personal feuds and bickering and work for the victory of BJP candidates. The importance of the Delhi election for RSS could be comprehended from the fact that RSS has formed a team of top leaders to monitor the election in the month of November 2024 itself.
RSS besides rejuvenating it as well as BJP cadres, have also embarked on the most meticulous move to reach out to people by organising nearly 50,000 ‘drawing room’ meetings across its eight zones in Delhi. At these meetings, the RSS leaders tried to indoctrinate the people, presumably the common voters, of the ideological imperatives, existing political situation and the role of the Hindu organisation.
This exercise according to the top RSS leaders had become imperative as the BJP leadership, especially Modi and Shah had miserably failed to counter the caste narratives of Rahul Gandhi. The RSS leaders confess that this narrative of Rahul has an impact on the psyche of the poor, especially Dalits and OBCs. RSS leaders are also worried that Rahul’s campaign would severely damage the saffron base built in this section over the years after putting strenuous efforts and pains.
Each RSS vibhag was instructed to organise “drawing room meetings” in localities, offices, institutions, shopping centres, schools, and colleges. Frontal organisations like Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), Sewa Bharti, Vishva Hindu Parishad, Akhil Bhartiya Shaikshik Mahasangh, Hindu Jagran Manch were also actively in the mission. According to the RSS sources nearly 7 lakh people were contacted across Delhi.
At these interactive meetings, the main thrust of the RSS was on “Panch Parivartan” (five changes). RSS’s idea of ‘Panch Parivartan’ includes insistence on practising ‘Samarasta’ in society , environment-friendly lifestyle, family awakening to promote familial values, inculcating sense of ‘Swa’ based on “Bharatiya” values and social awakening for the adherence of civic duties.
The compulsion to win election has been so intense that Bhagwat even did not care for the questions AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal had put to him. In a personal letter Kejriwal had sought to know whether the RSS condoned the alleged “wrongdoings” of the BJP. He also asked if the RSS approved of BJP leaders distributing money to secure votes and the “widespread” deletion of Purvanchali and Dalit voters.
RSS leaders said at the end of the polling that they were happy with the performance of their cadres in managing the polling booths. The AAP leaders equally were pro-active all through the day for ensuring the turnout of their own voters to the booths. It turned out to be a battle between two equals, according to the RSS leaders. They are hoping for the best when the results come out but at the same time, they do not rule out the AAP victory again. But they are confident that even if AAP wins, the margin of victory in terms of seats will be much less compared to the 2020 assembly elections. (IPA Service)
Trump Tariffs Have Profound Impact On Global Oil Trade, OPEC Strategies 