RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat is on the ten day visit to Bengal beginning February 7 with the mission to find and project a “credible and charismatic face” who can pose a serious challenge to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and to prepare the state RSS leaders to spearhead the electoral battle of 2026 assembly election in the state.
RSS has been quite proactive in West Bengal, but so far unfortunately it has not succeeded in its mission to have a major dent in the Bengali psyche. Barely a month back Mohan Bhagwat had descended in the state to motivate the RSS cadres and workout a comprehensive working relationship with the BJP leaders. But it could not yield the desired result.
During his earlier visit, Bhagwat had entrusted the state RSS leaders to find an acceptable face, but they could not zero in on an alternative face. Bhagwat is extremely dissatisfied with the present set of BJP leaders. During his last visit he had advised the state leaders to take lessons from the political trajectory of Mamata. But it looks like his advice had no takers.
State RSS sources confide that Bhagwat strongly nurses the feeling that some state RSS leader should be projected to lead the electoral campaign against Mamata. This would eventually help him catch the imagination of the people. Though Bhagwat did not spell out, his saffron aides say that he is absolutely disappointed with the functioning of the BJP leader of opposition in state assembly, Subhendu Adhikari and also the state BJP president Sukant Majumdar. While Subhendu is using the party forum to promote his personal image ignoring the party task, Majumdar has no control on the organisation and the state leaders are reluctant to listen to and respond to his directives and decisions.
Failure of the membership drive to enroll one crore members is being cited as the honest example. RSS leaders say that Bhagwat holds the party cannot aspire to defeat Mamata with these leaders in office. These sources also reveal that Bhagwat is of the view that central BJP leaders, Narendra Modi and Amit Shah have been more interested in patronising and projecting their Bhakts than strengthening the organisation in the state. The RSS cannot expect Adhikari and Majumdar to play a crucial role in wooing voters and strengthening the BJP before the 2026 assembly polls.
The state RSS leaders have prepared a detail report on the functioning of the BJP mentioning reasons for its non-performance. The RSS leaders have underlined in their report that people of state, specially the aristocrat and rich Bengalis are willing to support BJP, but the style of functioning of the BJP leaders prevents them to come out in support. A major section of the state RSS leaders nurse the feeling that the present set of leaders ought to be replaced with new dynamic leaders, who are basically committed to the Sangh ideology.
Failure to meet the membership target has exposed the infighting and organisational weaknesses of the BJP in West Bengal. In fact the state RSS has already conveyed to Bhagwat its displeasure over the persistent failure of Sukanta Majumdar and Suvendu Adhikari. A RSS leader mentioned the membership enrolment drive has revived the memories of Congress Party’s similar drive. The leaders would collect the membership form and fill fake and false names. They never undertook the task of reaching out to the common people and convince them of taking the membership. Something similar is happening in the case of BJP too.
With 2026 assembly election being projected as “agnipariksha”, Bhagwat would be meeting the RSS leaders and cadres from across the state and assess their mood and preparation. During the first five days of his stay Bhagwat will hold meetings with RSS leaders and local influencers with a focus on strengthening the organisation’s framework and ensuring its operational success. Bhagwat will visit several districts, including Burdwan, where he will address a public rally on February 16. He will meet regional RSS leaders, local activists, and prominent figures from Burdwan and surrounding areas, the rural areas, primarily for the reason that these areas are the stronghold of Mamata and the people of these areas must be won.
Bhagwat will primarily focus on instilling values of patriotism, self-reliance, family values, environmental protection, and socialising through family-oriented practices. Bhagwat will interact with RSS functionaries of Purba-Paschim Medinipur, Howrah, Kolkata, and North-South 24 Pargana. On February 13, he will move to Bankura, Purulia, Birbhum, Purba-Paschim Bardhaman, and Nadia. The political importance of these districts could be gauged from the fact that RSS has christened the districts as Madhyabang. He will attend a conference of RSS functionaries on February 16 in Burdwan. Sources maintain that a joint meeting of the stat BJP leaders and RSS functionaries would also be held to find out the areas and issues of differences between the two organisations.
One of the main reasons for Bhagwat focussing on rural and suburban towns, like Burdwan and Asansol, is that the urban cadres are showing disenchantment towards RSS and specifically BJP. Nevertheless the RSS leaders claim that the only encouraging aspect has been increase in the RSS membership; branches in the state have increased by 25 per cent in one year. This claim is really intriguing. While the BJP has failed to improve its membership, its rate of growth is virtually stagnant, the RSS claims to have increased its members. It is also significant the vote share of the BJP in all the elections has reduced.
Bhagwat’s ten day stay in Bengal is quite significant. A RSS leader pointed out; “there has been a huge demographic change in the region. The people migrating to Bengal now hold immense importance in the state politics. These people, mostly non Bengalis, hailing from Bihar, Jharkhand and UP are the main support base of BJP. There is urgent need to bring in Bengali people in the party and unless it is achieved the party cannot emerge as a potent political force. (IPA Service)
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