Guna: Saffron footprints have spread deeper into Madhya Pradesh’s Guna district in the past few years, political observers say. The state has for long been a stronghold of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s ideological mentor. No wonder then that RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat attended a youth conclave organised by the outfit in Guna at the weekend. The region is also an old bastion of the Scindias – the royals of Gwalior – especially Vijaya Raje Scindia, one of the founders of the BJP.
The first-ever mega RSS event after the shock defeat of Congress leader and former union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia in Guna during last year’s Lok Sabha polls carried various political implications, analysts say, though the Sangh called it an event dedicated towards “youth outreach”.
Locals say the RSS and affiliated groups have been quietly spreading their activities through volunteers in Guna over the past five years. Some observers feel that these persistent efforts paid off in channelising the displeasure of voters towards the defeat of Jyotiraditya Scindia, handing the royal family its first loss from the seat. The saffron outfit is believed to be consolidating its work now.
A senior Congress leader from Gwalior, wishing anonymity, said RSS workers have been active across the Guna parliamentary constituency in the last five years.
The region’s electoral history suggests that Hindutva sentiments had taken root here long ago. The first ever Lok Sabha election in 1952 from Guna was won by Vishnu Ghanashyam Deshpande of the Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha. Since then, till 2014, someone from the Scindia family or their representative won the seat, on 15 occasions.
Even Vijay Raje’s son and former union minister Madhavrao Scindia won his first Lok Sabha poll from here in 1971 as an independent candidate with the support of the Jan Sangh.
Sources said some speakers at the youth conclave indirectly took potshots at the royal family of Gwalior. RSS leaders said during the three-day event that the organisation plans to add around 10,000 youths to its ranks by the year 2025 and the Guna camp was part of this outreach programme.
A political observer from the region told News18 that the Sangh is looking to develop Guna as its new organisational hub in Madhya Pradesh, which has a Congress government. Given the fact that the region shares boundaries with Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, volunteers of the saffron outfit are extending their campaigns into adjoining areas as well, said the observer.
Also, RSS’s central Indian region secretary Ashok Agrawal comes from Guna.
However, a Bhopal-based ideologue from a Sangh-affiliated organisation trashed these reports.
“RSS never holds events keeping in mind any political equations. This was part of the youth contact programme of the Sangh and similar events are also being organised elsewhere. As there is no election in the near future, we can’t link this event to electoral strategy,” said the leader, who wished to remain anonymous as he wasn’t authorised to speak officially on the matter.
However, the RSS also used the conclave as an opportunity to garner support for the BJP-led central government’s Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) as related publicity materials were distributed among volunteers and were kept at event stalls. A photo exhibition on CAA and NRC was also organised during the three-day event that concluded on Sunday.
(With inputs from Vikas Dixit)
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