RSS foot soldiers fan out in Gorakhpur region urging people to vote

With the desertion of some leaders throwing up new challenges for the BJP in the Gorakhpur region, thousands of village-level workers of RSS have fanned out in 62 assembly constituencies urging people to exercise their franchise to ensure the party does not suffer due to the splitting of votes.

In 2017, the BJP had won 44 of the 62 assembly seats in the 10 districts of the Gorakhpur region, where Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has considerable influence, while the SP and the BSP got seven each, and Congress and an Independent one each.

Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), which was then allying with the BJP, and Apna Dal (Sonelal) had also won one seat each in this area.

However, this time the SBSP, led by Om Prakash Rajbhar, an influential leader of the backward classes in Purvanchal and the first to quit the post of minister in the Yogi Adityanath government, has allied with the Samajwadi Party (SP).

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Also, the then minister's Swami Prasad Maurya and Dara Singh Chauhan resigned and switched to the SP just before the elections. They are now contesting from Fazilnagar in Kushinagar and Ghosi seat in Mau, respectively, on SP ticket.

With changed political equations, there is apprehension about the splitting of votes among most backward castes Rajbhar, Maurya-Kushwaha and Chauhan (Nonia) fraternity, according to political analysts.

About 15,000 'Gram Pramukhs (or village heads) of the RSS, ideological fountainhead of the BJP, are out on the ground with their groups in a bid to keep voters together in the region, which goes to polls in the last two phases of elections in the state.

Over 240 village heads in each assembly constituency are active with their teams (groups of 5-10 people) to ensure the victory of BJP candidates, although RSS functionaries say the exercise – 'Janjagran Abhiyan' -- is for voter awareness.

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In UP, the BJP has divided its organisational structure into six parts -- West Zone, Braj, Kanpur-Bundelkhand, Awadh, Kashi and the Gorakhpur region.

The Gorakhpur region comprises 10 districts of Gorakhpur, Maharajganj, Deoria, Kushinagar, Basti, Sant Kabirnagar, Siddharthnagar, Azamgarh, Ballia and Mau and has a total of 62 assembly constituencies.

The activities of RSS village heads and their teams have increased on the 27,647 booths in the region.

“During the RSS' 'Prabhat Shakha', the volunteers are making people aware about increasing voter turnout. In the morning we take out Prabhat Pheri in the wards after the Shakha and also distribute leaflets among them,” RSS' Mau Nagar Prachar Pramukh Dr Madhukar Anand told PTI.

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However, he added that the group “works for the nation” and “not for any party”.

The leaflets being distributed by Lok Jagran Manch in the Goraksha Province appeals to voters to carefully choose if they want to vote for someone “who stood in favour of building a Ram temple” or “those who talked about building a mosque or a hospital instead of a temple”.

The leaflets also mention issues like the Kashi Vishwanath Dham, casteism in government jobs and removal of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir.

On the role of RSS in the elections, its Provincial Pracharak Subhash said the Election Commission makes efforts to increase voter turnout and the Sangh was doing public awareness for that.

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“The 'janjagran abhiyan' is aimed at public awareness and when people go to vote, they should evaluate the work of governments during their tenure, consider all parameters to form a good government and select good people,” Subhash told PTI.

Subhash said that about 15,000 RSS village heads have been engaged in this public awareness campaign and apart from this, more people of the organisation are involved.

The alliance of the Samajwadi Party (SP), the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and other smaller parties is also weighing on the mind of the BJP and its supporters.

According to sources, RSS field pracharak Anil held a coordination meeting with the BJP at 'Rajasthan Bhawan' in Mau on Sunday to chalk out a victory strategy for candidates of the saffron party.

“During the Ram Mandir construction fund collection campaign, RSS had made 'Gram Pramukhs' in all the villages and in this election they are active in booth-wise campaigning by forming 'Gram Pramukh' teams,” a worker involved in the meeting told PTI on condition of anonymity.

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Earlier, BJP's National General Secretary (Organisation) BL Santosh held a meeting of the Assembly Election Steering Committee with an RSS functionary in Dohrighat.

Gorakhpur is the home turf of UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who is contesting assembly polls for the first time.

The SP has intensified the mobilisation of Muslims and backward classes in the region, political observers say.

Don-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, a five-time MLA from Mau who is lodged in Banda jail and has been targeted by top BJP leaders during poll campaigns, has fielded son Abbas Ansari from the seat in the SP alliance.

While RSS has upped its campaign, the BJP has entrusted the responsibility of the region to Bihar's Rajya Sabha member Vivek Thakur, making him co-in-charge of the assembly elections.

In an interaction with PTI, Thakur, who is constantly on the ground activating the booth presidents of the party, exuded confidence that BJP will perform better than it did in 2017.

According to observers, the region has over 50 per cent backward castes voters and 20 per cent Scheduled Castes.

Apart from Brahmins and Kshatriyas, Kayasthas are also present in almost all the districts. Muslim voters to influence about 15 assembly constituencies including Mau, Azamgarh and Padrauna.

Mau-based political observer Vinay Jaiswal said RSS and BJP office-bearers are asking voters to consider the “development and future of UP '' while voting.

“Majority voters who were split on grounds of caste have been united by the RSS under the umbrella of 'Hindutva'. RSS groups are also trying to pacify any voter who is unhappy with the BJP candidate in their area,” Jaiswal said.

The sixth and seventh phase of UP polls is scheduled for March 3 and March 7 respectively.

Election results would be declared on March 10.

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