Sangh's Deliberations Hint at Rajnath Singh's Leadership
The next few days are likely to end the speculation about who will become the next national president of the BJP. If the rumors from the Sangh's inner circle are to be believed, Rajnath Singh has emerged as the leading candidate for the position. It is widely known that a three-day meeting of the Sangh's regional promoters took place from July 4 to 6 at Keshav Kunj, New Delhi, attended by top Sangh leaders, including Mohan Bhagwat. Around 233 key volunteers from the Sangh and its affiliated organizations participated in this meeting..
If sources are to be believed, in the meeting of the core group of the Sangh, serious deliberations took place on the name of the next national president of BJP. In this episode, the names of four-five BJP leaders were mentioned. The first name was that of Nitin Gadkari, the names of Manohar Lal Khattar and Shivraj Singh Chauhan have emerged. Finally, the Sangh has put forward the name of Rajnath Singh. Soft-spoken Rajnath believes in taking everyone along and he will prove equally adept in balancing the power of the government and the organization. After the recent 'Operation Sindoor', Rajnath Singh's popularity has also increased a bit, so the party may also get the benefit of his name in the Bihar-Bengal elections. The monsoon session of Parliament is going to begin from 21 July.
Two different streams within the Sangh
Sources associated with the Sangh clarify that in the current era, the emergence of two different streams can be seen in the Sangh. The popular name of one of these streams is 'Tradus' (Traditional) which strongly expresses the basic sentiments of the Sangh. It is said that this stream is represented by Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat himself. The people of this stream believe that the Sangh should not deviate too much from the values and objectives with which it was founded. So, the people of this stream believe in taking forward issues like Hindutva, Uniform Civil Code, Yogi Adityanath can be seen as the shining star of this stream. He has such strong support of the Sangh.
Dattatreya Hosabale, who is considered the number two of the Sangh, is in favor of taking forward a slightly liberal ideology. This is the group of RSS which believes that in the present times, such a hardline approach will not work. In its 100th year, RSS will have to present a liberal face with 'Sarvadharma Sambhaav'. Only Hindutva will not work. If needed, Muslims and Dalits will also have to be connected to the ideology of RSS. This group has been advocating bringing Dalits and backward classes closer to the ideology of RSS and BJP. The current BJP leadership can also be considered to be an advocate of this stream. BJP is equally interested in the coronation of Rajnath Singh as the new BJP president.
Extremely backward castes drifting away from Nitish
The extremely backward castes, which are included in the traditional vote bank of Nitish Kumar and his JDU in Bihar, may have a different stance in this election. The number of extremely backward castes is the highest in Bihar, around 37 percent. The last 4-5 assembly elections in Bihar are witness to how Nitish had won over these castes with his bow and arrow by showing them the fear of the stick of upper castes and Yadavs. This time the upper caste votes may go to the BJP in bulk, in response to this the extremely backward voters may drift away from JDU and BJP. Nitish's poor health and his unstable expressions have also created a sense of doubt among his core voters.
Extremely backward voters have been complaining for a long time that 'all the cream of his name is eaten up by three EBC castes i.e. Kalwar, Suri and Teli, these three castes also get most of the representation in contesting and winning the elections of MP, MLA. Even in the top government positions, these three castes dominate the majority of EBCs. So, the rest of the EBC castes want that Kalwar, Teli and Suri castes should be included in the Annexure, i.e. OBC caste. There are 100 castes under EBC whose population is less than one lakh, so the main concern of the EBC castes in the upcoming assembly elections is how to get proper representation in different houses.
Vasundhara Raje's Delhi visit
Rajasthan's saffron queen Vasundhara Raje Scindia's popularity has once again increased in the BJP. Reliable sources claim that a senior leader had called the queen to Delhi to meet her. It is said that this meeting went on for a long time, the senior leader asked Vasundhara several questions one after the other about Rajasthan and wanted to know why the public has started getting disillusioned with the Bhajan Lal government in the state in such a short time. The BJP leader also offered Vasundhara a central ministership and said that the next time he expands his cabinet, he will also give Vasundhara the responsibility of an important ministry.
It is said that Vasundhara said very politely - I will not be able to save Rajasthan for you by staying in Delhi, it does not matter to me whether I am a minister or not, you once again give me the command of Rajasthan, I will be able to curb the rising graph of Congress there. It is said that Vasundhara also said that in this assembly election, Congress could win only 66 seats in the state, we won 118, but today the situation has changed, if elections are held today then Congress can win even 120 seats. So it is possible that in the coming days, BJP leadership reaches some big decision regarding Rajasthan.
Will BJP's three CMs be changed?
In the three-day Delhi meeting of the Sangh, serious displeasure was expressed over the working of the CMs of the three BJP-ruled states. It was also discussed that the dedicated workers of the Sangh work day and night to make the BJP victorious, run 'door-to-door campaigns' to mobilize the voters in favor of the BJP, but when the party hands over the reins of the state to these Chief Ministers, how they start filling their own coffers. It is said that the Sangh has informed the BJP top about its feelings.
Another point discussed in the same meeting was that now the BJP will have to give up the temptation of giving party tickets to 'celebrity stars'. As an example, Hema Malini's name was taken that how the people of Mathura-Vrindavan have come out on the streets on her statement. Apart from this, the name of another famous Bollywood actress was also taken. How are the people who have become MPs and MLAs from Bhojpuri film world and sports world enhancing the ideas of the party? Questions were also raised on this. The RSS believed that party tickets should be given to those people who have emerged from the ideology of BJP and RSS or have the capacity to take it forward. RSS itself has taken cognizance of this and it was said in the meeting that now to take the ideology of RSS forward, we will have to change our face and face, we will have to connect more and more youth with us.
…and finally
The issue of ‘voter list revision’, which has come into the limelight due to the initiative of the Election Commission in Bihar, may prove to be a bad move for the ruling party. The opposition parties of the state seem to be successful to a large extent in convincing the poor and minority voters of the state that the current government wants to snatch their right to vote from them.
On the other hand, the speed at which the Rekha Gupta government of Delhi is wreaking havoc on slums and shanties, its echo can be seen even in Bihar. Such slums are the abode of lakhs of Biharis who have left Bihar in search of livelihood and settled in Delhi, which are being crushed by the government's bulldozers. So, their wailings can be heard in their homes in Bihar as well. So, the ‘village connection’ of the Biharis may make the lofty ambitions of the NDA barren this time.