VHP, RSS throw weight behind BJP with campaigns on Ram, 100% voting

As the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) tries to make history in the 2024 Lok Sabha election by returning to power for a third consecutive term — the first for a non-Congress party — the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its affiliates have now stepped in to help the ruling coalition boost its campaign.

As the first phase of polling on April 19 draws near, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has raised the slogan: “Jo Ram Ko Leke Aaye Hain, Hum Unko Leke Aayenge” (We will elect the person who has brought Ram).

VHP resolution

During a three-day meeting held in Ayodhya from March 25 to 27, senior VHP leaders, along with several Hindu religious leaders, passed a resolution to decide that there was a need to support the leader who was instrumental in the consecration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya on January 22.

“All senior leaders of the VHP blessed the decision to start a nationwide campaign to bring the leader who brought Lord Ram to Ayodhya. It also has the blessings of several religious leaders present during the VHP meeting in March. It has been decided that we will reach out to as many voters as possible to ensure that more people vote for the leader who was instrumental behind the consecration ceremony in Ayodhya,” Vinod Bansal, national spokesperson of the VHP, told The Federal.

100 per cent voting

Further elaborating on the VHP’s plan, Bansal explained that they had asked all workers and members of the organization to help voters, especially new voters, register themselves in the voter list and convince people to be present in the city on polling day.

“We have asked all VHP members to ensure that voters, especially first-timers, are registered on the voter list. We have also asked VHP members to go to every home possible and convince people to vote for the leader who brought Lord Ram to Ayodhya. We have also decided to request people to be present at the electoral booth on polling day and not miss voting. It is our national duty, and we must fulfil it,” Bansal added.

RSS initiative

The initiative to ensure 100 per cent voting was actually started by the RSS. In March itself, senior RSS leaders, during an Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS) meeting in Nagpur, decided to ask all members to start a nationwide campaign to ensure that there is 100 per cent voting during the Lok Sabha elections.

Taking it forward, senior VHP leaders have now started a campaign asking all workers and members of the organisation to first cast their votes, then help their family members vote, and then ensure that their friends and neighbours vote. The final step is to make sure that all people on the voting list of the area also cast their votes.

“We have named the campaign Mera Booth Sabse Mahan (My booth is the greatest),” Bansal said. He explained that the final step is to be available at the polling booth to help people vote during elections.

Promises fulfilled

Political analysts believe that the consecration of Ram temple will help the saffron party consolidate its social and voter base ahead of the elections.

“The Ram temple issue is a major poll plank for the BJP, and the party leadership believes that it will help them in the elections. The issue is crucial because it not only helps the BJP reach out to the upper-caste voters but it also helps them connect with the OBCs, Scheduled Castes, and Scheduled Tribes. The BJP leadership believes that voters’ Hindu identity will help the party,” Ashutosh Kumar, political science professor at Panjab University, told The Federal.

The 2024 general elections are crucial for the ruling BJP, as the party has fulfilled some of the major promises it had made in the past 44 years since its inception. Some of those are the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya, the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, the separation of Ladakh from Jammu and Kashmir, and the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).