Lok Sabha polls: Amit Shah relying on RSS to do job for BJP in UP

LUCKNOW: The RSS that has taken up a key role in BJP’s poll campaign in UP is taking no chances. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat is scheduled to hold a three-day meeting with zonal in-charges of BJP’s poll campaign in Varanasi starting Saturday to take stock of planning. Senior BJP leaders will also be present. Many zonal officials are those on deputation from the RSS, including organisation secretaries such as Ratnakar Kumar in Bundelkhand, Chadrashekhar Kumar in Kashi and Bhawani Singh in Bareilly.

BJP General Secretary Amit Shah, the man entrusted with winning UP for the BJP, too has come to rely on RSS functionaries. Shah, the chief lieutenant of Narendra Modi, had chosen mostly RSS men as caretakers, or palaks, of LS constituencies. They include JPS Rathore in Shahjahanpur, Sanjeev Agarwal in Bareilly, Devendra Sharma in Mathura, Jaswant Saini in Saharanpur, TB Singh in Amethi, Mahendra Singh in Hathras and Pradeep Prabaji in Jhansi.

They are to oversee campaigning, coordination between the party and the RSS and mobilisation of various Sangh organisations. The RSS functionary who has been given the duty to oversee poll preparations in UP is its joint secretary Dr Krishna Gopal. He is being aided by co-organisational secretary Sunil Bansal.