RSS' red herring on poverty leaves BJP perturbed

Tribune News Service

Vibha Sharma

New Delhi, October 4

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS) red herring on poverty, unemployment and rising inequality in the country just 18 months before the General Election has caused concern in the BJP’s rank and files, sources say.

The party, which is down at the drawing board to fortify and strengthen ranks and consolidate in critical states such as UP, is expected to make efforts to dispel perceptions caused by crucial issues raised by RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale at a seminar recently.

The comments have given rivals fodder to hit out at the BJP, with the Congress crediting them to the impact of the “Bharat Jodo Yatra”. “Look at the impact of the yatra. Even those who break the country and spread poison in society are raising the issues of poverty, unemployment and inequality,” AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, even though Hosabale had blamed “faulty” economic policies of earlier governments for the current “ills” in the country’s economy.

Observers, however, say that irrespective of what led to the current situation, “people will obviously seek answers from those in power today”.

Referring to poverty as a “demon” that needed to be destroyed, Hosabale added that 20 crore people below the poverty line “should make us sad”.

“As many as 23 crore people have less than Rs 375 income per day. The condition has improved. Ten years ago, about 22 per cent were poor, now 18 per cent are poor. There are four crore unemployed people in the country. We have an unemployment rate of 7.6 per cent,” he said

Commenting on rising economic inequality, he also said while figures say that India is among the top six economies of the world, the top one per cent of its population has one-fifth of the nation’s income. “50 per cent of the country’s population has only 13 per cent of the country’s income,” he said.

While Hosabale batted for creating a robust environment for entrepreneurship to bolster economy, a few days back Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat and senior Sangh functionaries met Umer Ahmed Ilyasi, the chief of All India Imam Organisation, as a part of Sangh’s Muslim outreach as Gandhi walked his way through the country.  

Admitting  that the Yatra “may be drawing crowds”, leaders say the party is working on plans to step up the buzz on the BJP, including visits by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to play up the party’s strength—development agenda, nationalist credentials and welfare schemes.

It is also planning to build on “positive atmosphere in the party's favour as demonstrated by “visits of senior ministers to the 144-odd constituencies that did not do well in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls”. While PM will push BJP's development agenda, Shah will concentrate on its nationalist credentials and recent crackdown on PFI, they added.

Party president JP Nadda, meanwhile, will concentrate on organisational works, including monitoring outreach and beneficiaries of welfare schemes. He is also expected to expand his team to add on preparations.

The party is also working to attract new allies and reclaim those who left it, for instance leaders like Swami Prasad Maurya, Dara Singh Chauhan, Dharam Singh Saini, Madhuri Verma and Vinay Shakya in UP to consolidate non-Yadav OBC space.

The coming two years will witness a lot of political action. 

Assembly polls are due in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh this year, followed by Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Mizoram, next year.

Year 2024 is when the country will hold the General Election and Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Haryana, Maharashtra and Jharkhand will also hold Assembly polls.   

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