Maharashtra polls: How state leaders, RSS took the lead for BJP's campaign

The ruling BJP in Maharashtra has tried a new strategy this time in the Assembly polls. The campaign culminated on Monday, with prominent state leaders taking the lead and the national leadership only pitching in with additional help.

While Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and state BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule, a prominent OBC leader, together held more than 100 public meetings, Prime Minister Narendra Modi only held around 10 election rallies in the state.

Among other prominent leaders of Maharashtra, Union minister Nitin Gadkari also focused his efforts in Vidarbha region where he addressed more than two dozen public meetings. PM Modi is known for a blitzkrieg-style election campaign strategy where he holds dozens of public meetings and roadshows but this time he held limited number of public meetings, though he covered all six regions of Maharashtra.

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State leaders on forefront

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath together held around 50 public meetings in the state, but the campaign was primarily led by Maharashtra leaders.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the star campaigner of the BJP and he sets the tone for the BJP campaign. However, the responsibility of the election campaign is also on the state leaders and therefore the number of public meetings of state leaders will always be higher. Fadnavis is the BJP’s face in Maharashtra and the election campaign suggests the same because he was part of the maximum number of public meetings,” a senior BJP leader based in Mumbai told The Federal.

Senior BJP leaders further said that this campaign strategy was also used in the Haryana elections where the Prime Minister only held around six public meetings to set the tone for BJP’s campaign but the groundwork for the election campaign was done by Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar who held the maximum number of public meetings in the state.

“There has been certainly a shift in the BJP’s poll strategy in Maharashtra. While senior leaders like Prime Minister Narendra Modi set the pace for the BJP’s campaign, the main campaign was led by Fadnavis and Bawankule. The RSS convinced Union Minister Nitin Gadkari to focus his campaign in the Vidarbha to help the BJP win more seats in the region,” Dilip Deodhar, Nagpur-based author and observer on RSS, told The Federal.

RSS ‘tolis’ garner support

The below-par performance of the BJP-led NDA in Maharashtra during the Lok Sabha polls came as a realisation for the RSS, prompting it to take control of the party’s campaign in the state for the Assembly elections.

With the Maharashtra election becoming a prestige battle between the BJP and the Congress after the Haryana polls, the RSS led the election campaign on the ground and organised more than 50,000 gatherings in the state along with door-to-door campaigns.

Similar to its strategy in the Lok Sabha polls and Haryana elections, the RSS members formed 6-8 member ‘tolis’ (teams) to reach out to different sections of the people with a special focus on women, youth, Dalits and farmers.

“A toli is a very important component in the functioning of the Sangh Parivar. It is a small group of people who have expertise on different issues. Similarly, the tolis in the election campaign are focused on crucial state and national issues. The RSS members do not campaign directly for the BJP but it becomes obvious that they are campaigning for the party. The RSS and its 32 affiliated outfits have backed the BJP in Maharashtra elections. After the below-par performance of the BJP-led NDA in the Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra, the RSS members pulled out all stops to mobilize support for the BJP. This kind of campaigning was earlier seen during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls,” Deodhar added.

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Establishing mass connect

Deodhar also said the Sangh Parivar celebrated all the festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi, Diwali and Kojagiri on a much larger scale in the state to establish mass connect with the people and also to influence the voters in favour of the BJP in the recent months.

Political analysts believe that the election in Maharashtra is a prestige battle for the RSS because it will celebrate its 100 years of foundation in 2025 and it will not want to lose the election at this critical juncture.

“The RSS is the strongest in Maharashtra, it is the place where RSS was formed. Next year, the RSS will celebrate its 100 years of foundation and it will not want to lose an electoral battle against the Opposition in such a crucial election. The support of Sangh Parivar holds great significance for a BJP victory in Maharashtra,” said Amit Dholakia, political science professor at Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda.