Sangh, through 65 friendly outfits, launches drive to mobilise Hindu votes for BJP, allies

MUMBAI: While the focus is on the daily jousting for the Maharashtra elections, there are subtle moves being made to mobilise the Hindu vote in BJP and Mahayuti's favour. In its own 'woke' moment - not of the kind seen on US campuses or in 'liberal' corridors but of the right-wing conception - the RSS has, through more than 65 friendly organisations, launched a campaign called 'Sajag Raho' ('Be Vigilant, Be Awake') in Maharashtra, which is intended not only to bolster BJP's push in the assembly polls but as a pushback against what it sees as "a larger attempt to keep Hindus divided and further atomise them," with repercussions going beyond politics.

'Sajag Raho' is the newest addition to the three-line national chorus by Hindutva forces after the LS polls and the recent attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh: the 'Batenge toh katenge' remark of Yogi Adityanath, PM Modi's comment of 'Ek hai toh safe hain' on Friday in Dhule (where BJP-RSS say consolidation of Muslim votes in Malegaon led to the narrow defeat of the BJP candidate in the LS polls), and Yogi's comment again in Maharashtra's Washim of 'Ek hai toh nek hain', the 'nek' there meaning, according to the Parivar, "Hindus will stay noble and not be forced to resort to violence, if only for self-defence, if they are not divided."

Sangh sources though said 'Sajag Raho' and 'Ek hai ho safe hai' are not aimed against anyone but at eliminating caste divisions among Hindus. A senior BJP functionary said "hundreds of meetings" are being organised by RSS 'swayamsevaks' and 65-plus NGOs to convey the message. Though Maharashtra polls are the immediate objective, the campaign, according to Parivar sources, represents the stirrings of an ideological and intellectual response to a larger phenomenon where Hindus get splintered on caste lines while Muslims bury differences and coalesce into a solid voting bloc, fired by the objective of seeing the BJP's back.

Among groups involved in the campaign are Chanakya Prathisthan, Matang Sahitya Parishad and Ranragini Sevabhavi Sanstha. All the four Sangh 'prants' or regional divisions across Maharashtra - Konkan (including Mumbai and Goa), Devgiri (Marathwada), Paschim (western) Maharashtra (which includes Nashik and parts of northern Maharashtra), and Vidarbha (where RSS has headquarters) - are involved in the campaign, organising meetings at the shakha level.

One of the campaign's highlights is the citing of the Dhule Lok Sabha and Mumbai North East Lok Sabha seat outcome as examples. It refers to what the Sangh calls the 'Malegaon model', which, according to it, hurt a 'divided' Hindu community. Social worker Girish Prabhune, a Padma Shri awardee for his work with the Pardhi community who is among those holding meetings, said, "BJP's defeat in Dhule was systematically planned. Though Congress's Shobha Bachchav won by 5,117 votes, she got a lead in just one assembly segment. BJP's Subhash Bhamre got a lead of 1,89,210 from five assembly segments. But in one segment, Malegaon Central, he got just 4,542 votes and the Congress candidate got a lead of 1,94,327 votes from there, because of which she won the seat." Malegaon Central is a minority-dominated assembly segment.

The meetings being held are with RSS-BJP sympathisers and other voters who may or may not be inclined to vote BJP. They focus on three points: Hindutva and impact of votebank politics on elections, the alleged influx of Bangladeshis and Rohingya Muslims and its implications on electoral politics, and "the vendetta politics that will revisit not only BJP and RSS but Hindu society as a whole if minority consolidation is allowed to have its way," a senior RSS member said.

RSS is not officially owning up to the campaign as an organisation but is simply calling it "an initiative by swayamsevaks". "Swayamsevaks have taken the lead to tell Hindu society it should not be divided on basis of caste, especially at a time when the Maratha-OBC divide has deepened in the state," said an RSS functionary.

However, a BJP functionary said the campaign has been "ideated and executed by RSS, it is oriented towards BJP's electoral prospects in Maharashtra and beyond, and it has its own logo and steering committee."

Asked if 'Sajag Raho' represented another way of putting across the 'Batenge toh katenge' message, Devendra Pai, assistant professor of political science at University of Delhi and formerly a key member of RSS think tank Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini, said Maharashtra and Mumbai in particular had an audience for both slogans. "Both will find resonance, maybe in different places and among different sections," he said.

Sources said the urgency of the campaign is underlined by the fact that RSS feels Maharashtra is important not only from the usual 'financial and industrial powerhouse' perspective but because, as one of the most advanced states, "Maharashtra gets to define what is progress and what is progressive." "To have control over the narrative around progress and progressiveness is critical especially for a party that openly upholds traditional values," the RSS functionary said. This ideological aspect is key to BJP retaining Maharashtra.