With only three phases of general elections remaining, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the parent organisation of the ruling party – Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – is leaving no stone unturned to ensure the latter’s victory like in 2014.
Taking up this election as a matter of prestige, RSS has sent 80,000 volunteers to nine states along with West Bengal that will go to polls in the last three phases. The volunteers have been directed to go to each and every household and tell them why it is essential for Narendra Modi to be re-elected as the Prime Minister. Their appeals will be based on the reduced terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, bold replies to Pakistan (referring to the Uri Attack and the Balakot air strike) and India’s enhanced status in the global world under Modi’s regime. They have even been directed to hold public meetings.
The last three phases will decide the fate of the BJP as the states that are to go to polls have a BJP stronghold. In the last general election, BJP had won more than 91% of the 129 seats from Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi, Bihar and Himachal Pradesh, that will go to polls in the coming phases. Apart from retaining the seats, the biggest challenge for the BJP is to win the remaining 24 seats of West Bengal which the Trinamool Congress had won in 2014. The RSS volunteers will play a crucial role in this battle.
In 2014, BJP had won 38 out of 41 seats in UP, 22 out of 23 in MP, 13 out of 21 in Bihar, 7 out of 10 in Haryana, 9 out of 11 in Jharkhand, all 7 in Delhi and all 4 in Himachal Pradesh.