RSS outreach adds to BJP's convincing win in Maharashtra elections

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) still holds the key to the BJP's electoral success as the outcome of the Maharashtra Assembly polls showed.

According to latest figures of counting of votes, the BJP-led Mahayuti could win over 230 of the 288 assembly seats in the state, leaving the opposition Congress-Shiv Sena (UBT)-NCP(SP) combine with just 50 seats. 

 

Ahead of the elections in Maharashtra, the RSS had launched an extensive outreach programme to shape public opinion in favour of the BJP-led alliance in the state.

The BJP's ideological fountainhead had started the move in coordination with all of its affiliates.

According to sources, small 'tolis' (teams) of 'swayamsevaks', formed under the plan, reached out to people in every nook and cranny of the state.

Each of these teams held small group meetings with five to ten people and also reached out to families through their local network in 'mohallas' in their respective localities carrying the message. 

"They did their work," a source said.

These teams shaped public opinion by holding discussions around topics of national interest, Hindutva, good governance, development, public welfare and various local issues concerning the society without explicitly endorsing the BJP, the source added.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis recently said that he had sought the Sangh's help to fight "anarchists and vote jihadists" in the assembly polls following the BJP's setback in the state in the Lok Sabha polls.

Hours after polling in Maharashtra ended on Wednesday, he called on RSS chief Mohan Mohan Bhagwat in Nagpur.

In a post on X, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari congratulated the people of Maharashtra for the historic victory of the BJP-led Mahayuti in the assembly polls under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership and said the government remains committed to the state's holistic progress and the aspirations of its people.

Additionally, I express sincere gratitude to the voluntary organizations that worked tirelessly during the elections to raise voter awareness, the senior BJP leader added.

It is believed that the "drawing room meetings" held by the RSS in coordination with its affiliates across Haryana were one of the key factors behind the BJP's electoral success in the state assembly polls in October.

According to sources, the Sangh workers' 'tolis' had held over 1.25 lakh small group meetings across Haryana in the run up to the state assembly polls.

Bucking anti-incumbency, the BJP secured its best-ever haul of 48 seats in the 90-member Haryana Assembly pulling off a hat-trick of wins in the state to retain power and halt the Congress' comeback attempt in the elections.

It is widely believed that lack of enthusiasm among the RSS workers was one of the key factors behind the BJP's underwhelming performance in the Lok Sabha elections this year.

BJP president JP Nadda's remarks during the parliamentary polls that his party needed the RSS' support in the beginning but over the years it became capable of running itself is understood to be one of the reasons that had demotivated the Sangh workers in various states.