The Sangh Parivar is fully geared up to ensure victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in all the 9 assembly seats in the Uttar Pradesh by-elections. In the coordination meeting held between RSS and BJP leaders in Lucknow yesterday, Thursday, the by-elections were discussed along with the current situation. The Sangh, which is on a mission of Hindu unity, sees its interest in the victory of the BJP. That is why the RSS has decided to sharpen Hindutva and nationalism not only to write the story of BJP’s victory in the by-elections but also to unite the Hindus scattered in castes.
RSS co-general secretary Arun Kumar attended the coordination meeting held at Prakriti Bharti in Mohanlalganj, Lucknow. Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya, Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak, BJP state president Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary, state general secretary organization Dharampal Singh, regional campaigner Anil Kumar, state campaigner Kaushal Kumar and Prashant Bhatia attended the meeting. In the meeting with the Yogi government and BJP leaders, Arun Kumar took feedback of the UP by-elections and also prepared a plan for the Sangh to help the BJP.
Brainstorming on uniting Hindu castes
If sources are to be believed, in the coordination meeting of RSS-BJP, brainstorming was done on uniting Hindu castes in the name of nationalism and Hindutva. The effect of the narrative ‘If we divide, we will be cut off’ and ‘If we stay united, we will be safe’ has been successful in the Haryana elections. It has been decided to win the political battle with these slogans in the UP by-elections and decide the future political direction. RSS, Yogi government and BJP will together implement it at the ground level. Social media will also be used. Apart from this, RSS workers will also go door-to-door to sharpen this mission and mobilize voters on the by-election seats.
After the poor performance of BJP in the Lok Sabha elections, this election has become a battle of prestige for the party. BJP wants to show its strength on the pretext of this by-election, while the credibility of the RSS is at stake. That is why in the last days of the by-election, the RSS has also made a strategy to put all its strength in the contested seats of Karhal, Kundarki, Sisamau and Katehari. These days, from Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, everyone is pushing the Sangh’s Hindutva agenda forward.
What do experts say?
Senior journalist Siddharth Kalhans says that the SP’s PDA formula was a hit in the Lok Sabha elections of Uttar Pradesh. Due to the SP’s PDA formula and the Sangh’s indifference, the BJP’s Hindutva agenda was torn to pieces and the Hindu castes were completely scattered, the brunt of which the BJP had to bear in the elections. The RSS had built the fabric of Hindu society with years of hard work, and seeing it falling apart, the Sangh Parivar is also worried. That is why to counter the PDA, the Sangh has decided to further sharpen the Hindutva agenda so that the social equation can be balanced in the by-elections.
Another senior journalist Vijay Upadhyay says that since the Lok Sabha elections, the Sangh Parivar has been working in coordination with the Yogi government and the BJP organization. To avoid the mistake like the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP and the Sangh have made full preparations. The strategy is to balance the caste equations on the ground, not to limit oneself to only propaganda and polarization issues. A plan has been made to ensure BJP’s victory through booth-wise teams of Sangh workers in the areas where by-elections are taking place.
Attempts to form opinion through intense discussions
Keeping a distance from BJP’s programs, groups of Sangh workers are contacting all castes and teaching the lessons of national interest to the Hindu society divided into castes. Along with this, they are also explaining the meaning of CM Yogi Adityanath’s slogan ‘Batenge to Katenge’ among every section and caste of the society. Each group is holding meetings with small groups of 5-10 people. Vijay Upadhyay says that these groups of the Sangh do not directly support the BJP, but are engaged in forming people’s opinion through intense discussions on national interest, Hindutva, good governance, development, public welfare and local issues.
Unlike the Lok Sabha elections, this time the Sangh is also with the BJP in its ground campaign. In the by-elections, apart from CM Yogi Adityanath, all other leaders are engaged in the exercise of uniting the equations and societies and not allowing them to be divided by coming down to the ground. Sangh’s joint general secretary Arun Kumar has written the script for writing the victory story by taking feedback from the Yogi government and BJP leaders in a meeting five days before the by-election voting, because many seats are considered to be very difficult for the BJP due to caste equations.