Indore, A five-day meeting of the all-India executive of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) began in Indore on Thursday. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat is presiding over the meeting called at a short notice.
The meeting assumes importance due to the nation’s changing political skyline and growing resistance in most parts to the National Register for Citizens (NRC) and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
Indore is apparently chosen for being the headquarters of Malwa region where the Sangh still wields considerable influence.
Sources say the all-India executive meeting will take place on the first three days and the top officials of all 56 affiliates will hold a session with the national leadership for the next two days. A session is likely to be devoted to the pracharaks of the Madhya Pradesh unit of RSS.
The focus of the Sangh will be on the expansion of shakhas in rural areas and preparations for West Bengal Assembly elections scheduled next year.
Top BJP officials J.P. Nadda, B.L. Santosh, Ram Madhav, P. Muralidhar Rao, Anil Jain, Vinay Sahastrabuddhe, Bhupendra Yadav, V. Satish, Shiv Prakash, Saudan Singh, Thawarchand Gehlot, Narendra Singh Tomar, Prahlad Patel, Prakash Javadekar and Kailash Vijayvargiya are likely to take part in the final phase of the meeting.
Bhagwat will also interact with some intellectuals over creating an awareness campaign for the CAA and NRC. The Swayamsevaks may be motivated to help the party overcome difficulties in implementing its agenda on NRC and CAA.
The BJP base has shrunk during the past 16 months with Maharashtra and Jharkhand forcing the leadership to sit up and take notice. Elections are now due in Delhi and Bihar. Sangh is keen to mobilise the cadre to retrieve the lost ground.
There is urgency in the Sangh, BJP and the government over the implementation of the nationalist agenda. The state unit of the party has been holding regular rallies to support the CAA and NCR.
Now Union Home Minister and party President Amit Shah is coming to Jabalpur on January 12 to clear the confusion over the CAA. He will hold a public meeting.
State BJP President Rakesh Singh said the Congress and other Opposition parties have created an atmosphere of confusion about the new citizenship law. They are trying to divide the country over the CAA, he said.
Efforts are being made to create an atmosphere of anarchy in the country, but the public knows everything, Singh added.
In such a situation, it is the responsibility of the government and the BJP to raise public awareness in the whole country. Top leaders are going to hold meetings in different states. Amit Shah will communicate directly with the people of Jabalpur.
The BJP is dealing with its audience at all levels. Bhopal MP Pragya Thakur in her characteristic style told a meeting on Tuesday Sehore that Hindus in minorities are being killed in some countries. The CAA-NRC would help bringing them back to the country on humanitarian grounds, she said.