The RSS has taken a backseat in the Lok Sabha campaign in Kerala this time -it could be due to BJP’s attempt to veil its hard-line Hindutva face in the run-up to the election or the fallout of BJP asserting its political authority over its parent organisation in Kerala too.
Not only are saffron flags and RSS insignia largely missing on the campaign front, but the BJP is also exercising total control over fund management.The practice of RSS appointing constituency level ? Samyojak’ has also been done away with.
BJP central leadership had time and again demanded the state leadership to nurture and build an organisational setup of its own and stop the practice of depending on the organisational strength of the RSS in election campaigns and organisational work. “It doesn’t mean that RSS has been silenced. RSS remains one of the major sources of support of BJP.
But BJP leadership is of the view that the towering presence of RSS, the insignia and other paraphernalia associated with that organisation do more harm than good to BJP candidates in elections in Kerala’’, Sangh Parivar sources said, adding that RSS workers have been asked to concentrate on booth-level activities as BJP leaders have been tasked with other major responsibilities.
The embarrassing way funds were managed in the last assembly election was a key reason that prompted BJP state president K Surendran to put his foot down and assert that BJP has grown enough as an organisation to manage its own key affairs. This, however, has not gone down well with a section of BJP leaders with RSS background. The flash campaigns against K Surendran saying that the organisational machinery was weak in constituencies like Thiruvananthapuram was an outcome of this.
Nationwide, BJP seeks vote for development. People are being asked to vote for a third term for Narendra Modi. It’s this approach of the BJP national leadership that further diminished the role of RSS in this election. The manner RSS managed the election campaign of Kummanam Rajasekharan in the last election was assessed as one of the reasons why he failed to break the jinx in Thiruvananthapuram constituency when he took on Shashi Tharoor in 2019.
“If you look at the way Rajeev Chandrasekhar conducts his campaign, the change is very much visible. He is talking only about development and there is no overindulge of RSS on the campaign trail. We hope it would improve the acceptability of the candidate’’, a senior BJP leader said.
The attempt to tone down the hard-line Hindutva image may work in favour of BJP. “The conspicuous presence of RSS in the campaign always led to counter consolidation of voters. How far BJP would be able to mask the RSS involvement is uncertain. But, it’s a more realistic approach as far as BJP in Kerala is concerned”, said political analyst G Gopakumar.
Not only are saffron flags and RSS insignia largely missing on the campaign front, but the BJP is also exercising total control over fund management.The practice of RSS appointing constituency level ? Samyojak’ has also been done away with.
BJP central leadership had time and again demanded the state leadership to nurture and build an organisational setup of its own and stop the practice of depending on the organisational strength of the RSS in election campaigns and organisational work. “It doesn’t mean that RSS has been silenced. RSS remains one of the major sources of support of BJP.
But BJP leadership is of the view that the towering presence of RSS, the insignia and other paraphernalia associated with that organisation do more harm than good to BJP candidates in elections in Kerala’’, Sangh Parivar sources said, adding that RSS workers have been asked to concentrate on booth-level activities as BJP leaders have been tasked with other major responsibilities.
The embarrassing way funds were managed in the last assembly election was a key reason that prompted BJP state president K Surendran to put his foot down and assert that BJP has grown enough as an organisation to manage its own key affairs. This, however, has not gone down well with a section of BJP leaders with RSS background. The flash campaigns against K Surendran saying that the organisational machinery was weak in constituencies like Thiruvananthapuram was an outcome of this.
Nationwide, BJP seeks vote for development. People are being asked to vote for a third term for Narendra Modi. It’s this approach of the BJP national leadership that further diminished the role of RSS in this election. The manner RSS managed the election campaign of Kummanam Rajasekharan in the last election was assessed as one of the reasons why he failed to break the jinx in Thiruvananthapuram constituency when he took on Shashi Tharoor in 2019.
“If you look at the way Rajeev Chandrasekhar conducts his campaign, the change is very much visible. He is talking only about development and there is no overindulge of RSS on the campaign trail. We hope it would improve the acceptability of the candidate’’, a senior BJP leader said.
The attempt to tone down the hard-line Hindutva image may work in favour of BJP. “The conspicuous presence of RSS in the campaign always led to counter consolidation of voters. How far BJP would be able to mask the RSS involvement is uncertain. But, it’s a more realistic approach as far as BJP in Kerala is concerned”, said political analyst G Gopakumar.