RSS-BJP Summit in Kerala to Strategise for Upcoming Assembly Polls

New Delhi: The RSS and its affiliates, including the BJP, will be holding a crucial “samanvay baithak” (coordination meeting) in Kerala’s Palakkad from this month-end to brainstorm on issues like the coming Assembly polls in four states, organisational issues, including changes in key posts within the saffron party, and on strategising over the Sangh Parivar’s push in the South, among other matters. The meeting, sources said, could also see the RSS top brass taking up the question of “ideological corruption” creeping into several of its pracharaks, who are loaned to the saffron party. The RSS, it is learnt, wants to address the issue firmly as it has been getting several complaints in this regard.

The three-day meeting, beginning from August 31, may also see the RSS and BJP top brass work on their action plan in the wake of the BJP’s dismal performance in the general election, which has charged up the Opposition bloc. The RSS top brass, sources said, will also be reviewing tasks of its other affiliates, who also play a key role in expanding the ideological course.

The meeting between the RSS-BJP top brass also comes in the wake of reported differences between the BJP and the RSS during the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls. Speculation is rife that the meeting could also approve the successor of the incumbent BJP president, Mr J.P. Nadda, who is now a Cabinet minister in the Narendra Modi government.

On top of the agenda for this meeting, sources said, are the coming Assembly polls in four states -- Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir, where the BJP is said to be in a very tight spot. The RSS, sources said, will be holding a separate meeting of its senior pracharaks deputed in the four states to assess the real situation on the ground. The feedback will help the BJP in reworking on its election strategies.

BJP president J.P. Nadda, general secretary (organisation) B.L. Santhosh and joint general secretary Shiv Prakash will be among those attending the meeting. The RSS top brass, sources said, is also unhappy with the recent developments in the BJP’s Uttar Pradesh unit, especially the discord between the Yogi Adityanath-led government and the organisation. There were meetings recently between UP leaders from the state, including deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya and state unit chief Bhupendra Chaudhary, with the BJP top brass. The BJP’s tally substantially declined in UP in the general election and the state unit has been gripped with internal rifts since then.

The venue of this Sangh Parivar coordination meeting is also important. While the RSS has a significant presence in Kerala, the BJP got its first MP from this southern state in actor-turned-politician Suresh Gopi. The BJP has been gaining political ground steadily in Kerala. Palakkad is important for the BJP as despite being in North Kerala, which is said to be minority-dominated, the BJP has a sizable vote bank and had won its first ever municipal poll with its chairperson. Palakkad is next to Thrissur, the parliamentary seat of Union minister Suresh Gopi. Interestingly, Palakkad has a significant Tamil population and is also near Coimbatore, from where the BJP’s Tamil Nadu unit chief, K. Annamalai, unsuccessfully contested his debut poll. In Tamil Nadu, despite failing to open its account in the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP’s vote share has significantly increased to 11.3 per cent from 3.5 per cent in the Lok Sabha polls.