Maharashtra: Devendra Fadnavis met Mohan Bhagwat at RSS headquarters in Nagpur after end of polling | Mumbai News
After the polling for the 288 constituencies in the state assembly elections closed on Wednesday evening, deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis met RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat in Nagpur. Sources speculate that the meeting could have been to offer his gratitude for helping the BJP with its door-to-door campaigns.
Highly placed sources in the party confirmed the fact, saying, “Fadnavis personally visited RSS headquarters at Mahal area in Nagpur. He held a brief meeting with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat.”
What exactly transpired between the two has been kept closely under wraps. But insiders in the RSS indicated, “ Fadnavis’ visit should be seen as a courtesy visit to express gratitude to the RSS for its significant role in campaigning for the BJP in the assembly elections.”
At least three BJP leaders said, “ Fadnavis must have taken the initiative to greet RSS top brass at headquarters to graciously acknowledge the role of the right wing organisation in Assembly polls.” There is a possibility they must have also reflected on the polling and its impact on the political parties.
Unlike previous elections where the RSS restricted itself to making clarion calls to the people to exercise their votes as responsible citizens, this assembly elections played a proactive role in campaigning for the BJP.
The RSS was a crucial factor in this state assembly elections. Unlike in the past where RSS restricted itself to making a clarion call to the people to exercise their votes as responsible citizens, this time they played a proactive role in campaigning for the BJP.
Insiders in the RSS said, “After the Lok Sabha elections which led to polarisation along the caste and religious line, RSS took upon itself the responsibility to take to the field and create awareness amongst the people through massive outreach programmes.”
While maintaining that the RSS does not meddle with BJPs politics, insiders said, “ The divisive politics which is threatening the social fabric of Maharashtra has been a concern for the organisation.”
On Wednesday Fadnavis, contesting from Nagpur South West seat for the sixth term, cast his vote along with his family members. At Nagpur, RSS chief Bhagwat also exercised the vote in Mahal.
Earlier, during an interview to The Indian Express, Fadnavis said, “While RSS doesn’t directly do anything itself, there are more than 30 organisations (which follow their ideology) working in various social spheres. They are very powerful but never enter politics. We told them, don’t ask people to vote for us, but at least respond to the anarchist forces. That has helped us counter the narrative (of the opposition).”
According to Fadnavis Congress promoted “vote jihad”. Citing the example of Dhule in the LS elections, he said, “ we had a lead of 1.9 lakh votes from five assembly segments, but they got a lead at one segment in Malegaon central and defeated us by a margin of just 4,000 votes.”
Similarly, he had said, “The same trend was seen in 11 other LS constituencies where there was extreme polarisation of Muslim votes, this is vote jihad. Fatwas were issued by maulvis and along with that, Congress created divisions along caste lines. That means on the one on the other hand, they polarised Muslims, and on the other, divided Hindus.”
Despite the heightened campaign by the opposition against BJP’s controversial remarks like — ‘Batenge to katenge’, ‘ek hain to safe hain’ — Fadnavis believes that the words should be perceived in appropriate context.
Expressing concern, Fadnavis believed, “ Historically whenever there was a division of society, the country was divided and society suffered. So, I think ‘batenge toh katenge’ and ‘ek hain toh safe hain’ are positive slogans for unity and there is nothing wrong with it.”
