After Haryana win, RSS shaping public opinion in Maharashtra

PTI New Delhi: With the assembly polls in Maharashtra just a month away, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has launched an extensive outreach programme to shape public opinion in favour of the BJP-led alliance in the state. The RSS, which is the ideological fountainhead of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has started the move in coordination with all of its affiliates, sources said. “Tolis (teams) have been formed across the state and they have started reaching out to people in their respective localities taking the message,” a source told PTI. Each team is holding small group meetings with 5-10 people and also reaching out to families through their local network in ‘mohallas’ in their respective localities, the source said.

“In these meetings, they do not explicitly endorse the BJP but shape the people’s opinion through intimate discussions around topics of national interest, Hindutva, good governance, development, public welfare and various local issues concerning the society,” the source added. Before the teams were formed, the office bearers of the RSS and its affiliates held coordination meetings across all levels in the state to devise the strategy, the source said. The move assumes significance as it comes following the BJP’s victory in the just concluded Haryana assembly polls. Sources said 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. Bucking anti-incumbency, the BJP secured its best-ever haul of 48 seats in the 90-member Haryana state assembly pulling off a hat-trick of wins in the state to retain power and halt the Congress’ comeback attempt in the elections.

“Tolis of Sangh workers, formed in Haryana, held over 1.25 lakh small group meetings across the state,” another source told PTI. These meetings helped shape public opinion in Haryana by highlighting various issues including the erstwhile Congress government’s “Jat-centric policies” under then Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the source said. “They assuaged people’s concerns over the Agnipath recruitment scheme. They also engaged with farmers and managed to sway their sentiments in favour of the BJP,” the source said, adding “RSS stands out due to its embedded nature within the community, where its workers maintain long-term relationships and trust with people in their respective localities”. It is widely believed that a lack of enthusiasm among the RSS workerss ne of the key factors behind the BJP’s underwhelming performance in the Lok Sabha elections this year.