While the Gandhi family criss-crosses UP in a do-or-die effort for the Congress, another parivar is at work, silently but methodically, for the BJP.
LUCKNOW: While the Gandhi family criss-crosses UP in a do-or-die effort for the Congress, another parivar is at work, silently but methodically, for the BJP. After a fractious falling out during the 2004 Lok Sabha polls, that saw the BJP sharing the crumbs with the Congress in UP, the RSS has moved back in to canvass for its political wing. And it is sparing no effort to pull in voters for the BJP this time.
“We are working as a united family in these polls,’’ revealed Shyam Nandan Singh, who has been drafted from the RSS and put in charge of the coordinating the BJP’s election campaign. ‘’There is much more unity today than there was last time.’’
The most public gesture of the parivar’s change of heart was the VHP’s intervention with rebel sanyasin Uma Bharti who subsequently withdrew her candidates from the fray in favour of the BJP. The actual electoral benefit may not be very much but it’s served to buoy party workers, as has Ashok Singhal’s decision to throw his weight behind the BJP. “He didn’t participate in the election campaign last time. But this time, he is campaigning for us,’’ said Singh.
It is evident to anyone who visits the BJP headquarters in Lucknow that the presence of the RSS has added a much-needed fizz to the party’s electoral bid. Few expect the BJP to form the next government in UP. But hopes are mounting that the party will come in second, relegating Mulayam Singh’s SP to third place. For a party that went into rapid decline after its shock defeat in the 2004 Lok Sabha polls, this is a remarkable comeback.
“People thought we would be third or fourth when the elections were announced. But now even the exit polls are putting us second,’’ said Singh with satisfaction. There is little doubt that the upswing in the BJP’s electoral fortunes is powered by the formidable machinery of the RSS. Singh pointed out that the parivar has done its homework thoroughly and made meticulous preparations in every constituency. This includes setting up teams of workers for the management of booths. “The real battlefield is the booth,’’ he said.
This is where the Congress seems to be losing out. While the Gandhi magic seems to be casting its spell wherever the family goes, the party’s presence on the ground is too scattered to turn it into votes. “If the Congress had got its act together even six months ago, things could have been different,’’ said a retired UP bureaucrat. “There’s no positive mood for the BJP. It’s the TINA (there is no alternative) factor at work in the urban areas.’’
As Suresh Kumar, a taxi driver, put it, “People are disillusioned with all the parties. We would have given the Congress a chance this time but it didn’t seem to be a serious contender. Rahul Gandhi should have started touring UP much earlier.’’
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