After Haryana Success, RSS Launches Massive Outreach Campaign In Maharashtra To Rally Support For BJP-Led Mahayuti Ahead Of Assembly Polls

As Maharashtra's assembly elections draw near, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has reportedly began a large-scale outreach campaign aimed at swaying public sentiment towards the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance.

The RSS, the ideological backbone of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has started this initiative in collaboration with its various affiliated groups, news agency PTI reported citing sources.

"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 was quoted as saying by PTI.

Each team is reportedly conducting small group meetings with 5-10 people and reaching out to families within their local neighbourhoods through their networks in 'mohallas'.

"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.

Ahead of forming the teams, RSS officials and the organisation's affiliates conducted coordination meetings at every level in Maharashtra to plan the outreach strategy.

This campaign gains significance in light of the BJP's recent triumph in the Haryana assembly elections.

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, according to the sources cited in the PTI report.

Defying anti-incumbency, BJP achieved its highest-ever tally of 48 seats in Haryana’s 90-member assembly, marking a hat-trick of victories and preventing the Congress' efforts at a comeback.

Sangh workers in Haryana reportedly conducted over 1.25 lakh small group meetings through their "tolis" across the state.

These meetings reportedly moulded public sentiment in Haryana by addressing various issues, such as the Congress government's "Jat-centric policies" during Bhupinder Singh Hooda's tenure.

"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," the source explained.

It is believed that the BJP's lacklustre performance in this year’s Lok Sabha elections was partly due to lack of enthusiasm among RSS workers.

`BJP President JP Nadda's comment during the parliamentary elections, stating that the party needed RSS support in the beginning but had since grown self-sufficient, reportedly demotivated Sangh workers in several states.

While the RSS officially states that it does not directly engage in electoral politics, it is widely regarded as the BJP's unseen force during elections.

The stakes are high for the BJP and its allies in the Maharashtra assembly elections set for 20 November, as the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), consisting of Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and NCP (SP), seeks to reclaim power, buoyed by their success in this year's Lok Sabha elections.

In the recent parliamentary elections, the BJP faced a setback in Maharashtra, reducing its tally to nine seats from the 23 it had secured in 2019.

Its ally, Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, won seven seats, while Ajit Pawar’s NCP managed to secure only one seat.

Meanwhile, Congress improved its tally from one seat in 2019 to 13, with Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena winning nine seats and Sharad Pawar's NCP securing eight.

The RSS workers' "active participation" in swaying public opinion ahead of the assembly polls has reportedly raised optimism within BJP ranks, with many in the party hoping that replicating the Haryana strategy will produce similar positive outcomes in Maharashtra.

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