RSS builds parallel campaign structure to help Delhi BJP

With Delhi BJP in a moribund state, the Sangh leadership has asked its coordinators to help, as many local BJP leaders can't be relied upon

With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) unit in Delhi deeply divided, the party has sought the help of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to manage and coordinate the party's campaign in the state.

An RSS functionary, who had been given the task of campaign coordination in a West Delhi district, told Business Standard the situation "is not as rosy as it looked" for the party. More than the challenge posed by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), it is the internal dissension that is spoiling the BJP's chances.

The RSS has roped in Durga Vahini, the women's wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, to campaign in some constituencies. "Last time, AAP even got votes of women in our families also. We realised it later. This time we want to prevent that," said an RSS worker. Durga Vahini has been campaigning among Hindu women against so-called "love jihad".

The RSS has deployed senior functionaries as coordinators for each district in the state. The Sangh leadership has asked these coordinators to build a 'parallel' campaigning structure, as many local BJP leaders can't be relied upon. The Sangh has used the same technique in Uttar Pradesh during the Lok Sabha elections.

"Ticket distribution has created deep divisions in the party. If anyone thinks it is a cakewalk for the BJP, they are living in a fool's paradise. I have deployed a new set of workers, who are not given any position in the party but are undertaking the whole campaign in the district. Other Sangh Parivar organisations have also been pressed into action," said the RSS functionary cited above.

He said he had built a parallel party setup and asked the cadres to carry out campaigning independently. The resources for the campaigning were provided to these coordinators directly from the central BJP leadership and the party candidates. "The problem is that at some places, even the Sangh workers are divided over selection of candidates. Their anger is natural, as for many their political career is at stake," he said. He said the AAP was putting up a very systematic campaign and hoped that in the last round the BJP cadres would pull up their socks and work effectively.

He said though a section of the BJP workers disapprove of the selection of Kiran Bedi as the chief ministerial candidate, the public at large were supporting it.

A mid-level BJP leader from Mayur Vihar Phase-III, too, echoed the RSS functionary's view. He said his district unit was a divided house, with some senior leaders becoming "totally inactive".

The BJP has deployed Union ministers and members of Parliament (MPs) to campaign for party candidates in various constituencies. Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan addressed a workers' meeting in New Delhi constituency on Sunday. Some workers are learnt to have complained to him about the "style of functioning" of the local party MP.