In his decades long association with Narendra Modi, and especially as the second in command, during Modi’s nine year rule as the prime minister, Amit Shah has never faced any kind of spanner from the original BJP workers.
They listened to him with awe and carried out his order without any question. But suddenly the same cadres and loyal pracharaks, operating at the ground level have started questioning his move to entrust the turncoats with organizational and electoral responsibility. Both Modi and Shah on the plea of broad-basing the party and making it the largest one in the Indian political establishment, have been projecting the converts as the key players and decision makers.
The dissatisfaction is not confined to one or two states. It has afflicted the BJP apparatus in almost all the states in eastern and north eastern states these days. As the BJP is mainly confined to these states, the manoeuvres of the turncoats are more visible in these regions. The frustration and anger are more pronounced for the reason that these new entrants have been trying to lord over the traditional cadres. They even lay down the functional policies of the party in their respective states. These new entrants have been controlling operations of the party in most of the states.
The sources point out that some months back a group of such cadres and leaders had apprised the RSS leaders of their feelings. In fact the RSS leadership is aware of the strained relations between the original cadres and turncoats from other parties..The relations between the two camps of the party have reached to such a stage that the original workers in most of the states have refused to take order from the converts.
The discontentment that has been brewing amongst the original cadres and leaders received an impetus after the RSS mouth piece Organiser carried an editorial questioning the charisma and relevance of the politics of Hindutva, and emphasizing that these two will not work in 2024. They point out Modi has been using the turncoats to strengthen his grip on the party structure. They confide that the original cadres do not endorse most of the policies and actions of Modi. But they don’t dare to publicly voice their protest.
Most of the ground level workers and cadres owe their political upbringing to the RSS. They point out that for last six years the way of Modi’s functioning has been the issue of discussion inside the RSS. But the RSS leadership never asked them to adhere to the policy of abiding by the code and maintaining transparency in public life.
The old timers pointed out that a survey would unravel the truth that many old cadres have withdrawn from active politics and remain confined to the four walls of their homes. This has been sending a very wrong message amongst the people. A common perception has gripped the people that everything is not well in the RSS and BJP. The naked show of man and money power by these new entrants have also been eroding the trust level of the party.
Citing a chain such developments, they point out that in Bihar, the most important state for the party, is being run and managed by the turncoats. These leaders do not have moral or political credibility. The old timers have either retired or turned silent observers. Instead of taking the principles and ideology of the party to the people, the new leadership is mainly concerned of evolving caste equations, which has turned to be unproductive.
The traditional BJP workers, nurse a strong feeling that these people may start switching their loyalty well before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Already in some states, these people have started the campaign of “Ghar Wapasi” and this may gain momentum after the elections to the assemblies of five states in November. They in a tone in warning, intend to convey their feelings to the RSS leadership to take notice and start preparing for meeting the unforeseen challenges before the Lok Sabha polls.
The traditionalists point out that the turncoats have been immensely harming the ideology and political commitment of the BJP. These converts have been showing their loyalty to the party’s ideology for the sake of their acceptance and survival. Actually they are not committed to the BJP’s policy and RSS’s ideology. They have joined the BJP as the party is in power. They have a valid question; what is the guarantee that they will not desert the BJP once it is out of power. By the time the BJP leadership takes corrective measures, enough damage would have been inflicted on it eroding its credibility.
These sources point out that the situation in West Bengal is worst. The two factions have engaged in bitter fight against each other. As in Bihar, here too a large section of the old leaders have withdrawn. In areas where the old leaders and cadres are strong, always notice clashes between them, Continuously, the RSS faction in Bengal led by the BJP president Sukanta Majumdar is at loggerheads with the turncoats led by more powerful turncoat Suvendu Adhikari who has backing of the Home Minister Amit Shah.
These sources also point out that the old timers were more committed to ideology and principles. But the new entrants are interested in making money. For them making illegal money is not a pariah concept. As most of the top leaders who came from TMC have been involved in Sharada and Narada scams. The CBI and other central agencies had registered a number of criminal cases against them but did not take up any follow up action. In Assam and in other north eastern states, the turncoats are dominating the state governments and the party while the RSS faithful are cornered. (IPA Service)