The Bharatiya Janata Party’s ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), is witnessing “meteoric growth” in West Bengal, even as the ruling party at the Centre struggles to emerge as the principal Opposition to the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government in the state. In fact, RSS sympathisers claim that a “saffron surge” is underway in Bengal.
According to RSS functionaries in Bengal, the Sangh has seen a steady growth of 50% in its membership in the past three years. It has also seen a growth in the number of shakhas across the state. The RSS now has at least one shakha in every panchayat. It is also going for block and booth level mobilisation.
Speaking to this correspondent over phone from Kolkata, a senior Sangh functionary said that the RSS is focusing on working hard in Bengal to apprise the people of the state about the “minority appeasement” politics of the present TMC government. He also said that the Sangh was working towards mobilising the youth, who otherwise are disconnected, towards the Sangh.
“Our shakha system is a 90-year-old model, but of late, we have realised that the modern day youths feel disconnected from such systems. Therefore, we are working towards organising weekly and monthly shakhas instead of the regular ones so that the youths can join in more numbers,” he said.
Apart from this, the RSS is also mobilising its workers at the grassroots, at a scale never seen before in Bengal. “We will have at least 10 volunteers at every booth to make people aware of and understand the atrocities against the majority community and appeasement towards the minority community,” the RSS functionary further added.
The central leadership of the RSS, including RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, is making frequent visits to the state and meeting prominent Bengalis.
“We are adopting a personalised approach to make people understand our ideology and clear the misconception about us, which is fed by a section of the media and people with vested interests,” Biplab Roy, RSS spokesperson of the Bengal unit, told this newspaper.
The RSS has also accused the Mamata Banerjee government of “appeasement” politics and has condemned the “extremist violence” allegedly prevailing in the state.
“We are not against any religion, but we are for Hindu samaj (society). The Hindus of West Bengal are living in constant fear as they are being attacked frequently. The whole of Bengal is resisting such action, whereas the government of the state is working with such anti-national elements. We will have to unite against such forces to stop the atrocities against the community,” Roy added.
The Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS), the RSS’ highest decision making body, has also recently passed a Bengal-centric resolution, expressing concerns over the rise of “jihadi elements” and condemning the vote bank politics of the state government.
In its resolution, the RSS has also expressed its concern over the “declining Hindu population” in the state.
Political commentators in the state told this newspaper that a “counter polarisation” is taking place in Bengal, which is allowing the RSS to gain a foothold in the state. They blamed the situation on the Mamata Banerjee government and its “appeasement” politics.
“Counter polarisation in Bengal is growing by the day, thanks to Mamata Banerjee. She is giving space to the RSS to grow, by constantly turning a blind eye towards the incidents of violence against one community. We have seen incident after incident, yet the government failed to take any action, and has remained in constant denial. This is leading to a silent upsurge among the youth as was evident from a rally that was organised by Hindu Samhati leader Tapan Ghosh in February this year. But I do not know how much of this would translate into votes,” a Political Science professor from Calcutta University told this newspaper on the condition of anonymity.