Maharashtra polls: How the Sangh Parivar is backing Mahayuti | Mumbai news

MUMBAI: The Sangh Parivar is pulling out all stops to back the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the upcoming assembly elections, spokespersons of the outfit said at a media meet on Wednesday. Last month’s surprise results in the Haryana assembly election showed what a difference such a grassroots campaign by the Sangh Parivar can make, said national spokesperson of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Shriraj Nair.

There are 36 organisations connected with the Sangh Parivar, members of which have fanned out across every gully in Maharashtra, said Nair. “The Maharashtra election is not just one assembly election; it is an opportunity to give a direction to the nation,” he added.

The Lok Sabha elections acted like a wake-up call, said Mohan Salekar, prant mantri, VHP. The support for the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) by Muslims had influenced results in many constituencies, said Salekar, giving the example of Dhule, where the Mahayuti candidate’s lead in five assembly constituencies had been reversed by the way the sixth assembly constituency – Malegaon — had voted.

Additionally, voting percentage among Muslims had been very high in the Lok Sabha polls, said Salekar. But Hindus, especially the elite, were lazy, and had been over-confident of BJP’s win.

This had led the Sangh Parivar to hold meetings with elite Hindus, advising them to take voters to polling booths on November 20.

“We are going house to house, raising awareness about the dangers to the nation by those opposing us,” said Salekar. The “dangers” according to Salekar came from “foreign-funded NGOs” who were allegedly involved in opposition activities. A booklet on the new Wakf Bill was being given to every household to raise awareness of these “dangers”.

“Hindus are attached to their caste, but when Hindus won’t survive, would caste survive? That’s what we tell voters,” said Salekar. He however, added that the cadre was maintaining a “Laxman Rekha”.

“We are not telling people whom to vote for; we are only telling them to vote for one who promotes nationalist thought. We are meeting caste leaders and sants, and asking them to tell their followers to vote for one who works for Hindu interests. ‘Jo Hindu hith ki baat karega, wahi desh par raj karega’ is our slogan.”

Salekar underscored that the BJP was the only party working for Hindu interests – be it speaking up when Hindu festivals are “disrupted” or when Hindus “are in danger” in Bangladesh and Canada. Donald Trump too was working for “Hindu hith”, he added, when asked to comment on Trump’s recent victory.

Curiously, despite the Sangh Parivar’s antipathy towards those who emphasise caste, Maratha reservation leader Manoj Jarange-Patil’s sudden decision not to field Maratha candidates in these elections does not seem to have gone down well with these spokespersons. “It’s obvious that there’s a hidden hand behind Jarange-Patil suddenly reversing his decision,” said Salekar. “Now, he says he will direct his supporters whom to defeat. We all know that because of his caste animosity towards Devendra Fadnavis, he’s out to defeat BJP’s candidates, even though it’s Fadnavis who worked for Maratha reservation.”