Maharashtra+Haryana: The X factor of BJP is at work again

The BJP-led Mahayuyti's landslide victory in the Maharshtra assembly elections can be attributed to a variety of factors such as strong welfare pitch and good performance by allies and the Hindutva agenda but there was one X factor which does not directly fits into the BJP's electoral machinery but helps take the issues to the grassroots: the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). After Haryana elections, when the RSS was in an overdrive and was seen to have contributed to the BJP's stunning victory, the Maharashtra elections too saw the organisation hit the ground to amplify issues which favour the BJP.

How the RSS gained significance after the Lok Sabha polls
One factor behind the BJP's lacklustre performance in the Lok Sabha polls, especially in Uttar Pradesh, was seen to be the weak RSS support. In fact, after the Lok Sabha polls, it emerged as a big issue with many talking of a rift between the BJP and the RSS. Some analysts suggested that a perceived lack of enthusiasm from the RSS might have contributed to the party's reduced numbers.


BJP president JP Nadda's comment during the parliamentary polls stating that while his party initially needed RSS support, it had become self-sufficient over the years has been perceived as demotivating for Sangh workers across various states.

“We consider the Lok Sabha result a lesson for the BJP. The Nadda statement also hurt us and led to the Sangh keeping away from the elections. However the BJP and the Sangh have no options besides each other. Yes, we were upset, but when your own makes a mistake you slap them once and work with them again,” an RSS functionary, who was present in a BJP-RSS meeting after the Lok Sabha debacle in Maharashtra, had told ET.

During the assembly polls in Haryana, the RSS reportedly assumed an important role in the state, signifying a course correction by the BJP. Unlike in the Lok Sabha election, when the RSS was seen to keep a distance from the campaign, the Sangh ranks and associate outfits threw their organisational heft behind BJP for the Haryana assembly polls.

In an interview to ET two weeks ago, when asked how attempts were being made to improve coordination with the RSS, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said, "Sangh is a parent organisation and has an ideological family. This time, we requested all member organisations of this ideological family as ultra leftist and anarchists are working to created discord. They want people’s faith in the country’s institutions to go down."

"In the 2024 polls, we did not fight with the INDI alliance. We fought with these forces and we were not prepared then. This time, we requested all these member organisations of Sangh that even though you may not have anything to do with politics but for the sake of the country they should help us. As a result, nationalist forces stood against the ultra left and anarchist forces. We told the Sangh that we cannot take on these anarchist forces as they are not a party. We can take on a party but not these forces. The nationalist forces (RSS) will fight the anarchist forces," Fadnavis said.

The RSS role in Maharashtra polls
The role of the RSS in Maharashtra elections ranged from amplifying ideological issues to connecting with families and individuals at the ground level. Through more than 65 friendly organisations, the RSS launched a campaign called 'Sajag Raho' ('Be Vigilant, Be Awake'), which was 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.

The RSS was not officially owning up to the campaign as an organisation but was 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," an RSS functionary had told TOI.

The Sangh decided to tackle the opposition narrative, the Sangh created 13 groups that would tackle the opposition threat on the macro as well as the micro level, as per an ET report. On the macro level one of the groups was to collate all the information coming in from the opposition, analyzing and how to correct or counter it. For instance, to counter the charge of the opposition that the BJP intended to change the constitution, the RSS outfits went on the ground with the campaign ‘Har Ghar constitution’, wherein they with the help of dalit RSS workers began speaking in the community of how not the BJP but the Congress was the ‘biggest culprit’ of violating the constitution. In fact, for several weeks, the Sangh and its affiliates worked silently on the ground holding smaller meetings with people and trying to influence groups or people in almost all the 288 assembly constituencies in the state.

One of the groups was supposed to go among the Maratha community that was upset with the BJP over the stir by Maratha leader Manoj Jarange Patil and tasked to give the BJP view on the reservations. The Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram representatives were tasked with working with the state’s tribal community to win them over. Another of the groups created was tasked to get YouTubers, influencers, right-leaning intellectuals and those on social media to create a favorable atmosphere for the BJP and why the Congress and NCP coming to power is detrimental to not just the state and the Hindu community.

“It was decided to reach out to even those who give spiritual lectures of pravachan (religious teachings) in rural villages to get our message across. We made people realize that if the Hindu community was divided then it could cause problems for all,” an RSS functionary had told ET.

"Tolis (teams) have been formed across the state, and they have begun reaching out to people in their respective localities," a source had told TOI. Each team conducted small group meetings with 5-10 people and connected with families through local networks in their neighborhoods, the source said. "In these meetings, they don’t explicitly endorse the BJP but rather influence public opinion through discussions on national interests, Hindutva, good governance, development, public welfare, and local issues affecting the community," the source noted.

(With inputs from TOI)