Bengal Polls: RSS Eyeing ‘New’ Hindu Votes to Give BJP an Edge

Kolkata: For the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a maiden ministry in West Bengal in the next Assembly elections, due around this time in 2026, would be a valuable gift to its ideological parent, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the pivotal Sangh Parivar organisation, which begins its centenary celebrations in September 2026.

The central BJP leadership has been seriously looking forward to ruling West Bengal since the 2021 Assembly elections, but for a host of deficiencies it has been nowhere near the required number in the 294-member House. This is despite the party succeeding in garnering over 25% seats at the cost of other non-Trinamool Congress (TMC) parties.

Now, BJP sees a chance coming its way in 2026, to live down its despair. But, in the situation that has evolved so far this year, it is apparent that party will have to count heavily on RSS and its swayamsevaks.

Top BJP leaders, from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and state leaders, such as, Dilip Ghosh, Union minister of state and current state party chief Sukanta Majumdar, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Suvendu Adhikari and some more members of Parliament (MPs) will be seen leading the election campaign.

However, a major concern for the BJP brass is that they do not have a cohesive, active state organisation. Despite several interventions by the central leadership, deficiencies persist in the party’s state unit and intra-party differences have made cohesive functioning a far cry.

The BJP’s ideological parent seems to have realised that the next Assembly elections in a politically sensitive state, such as West Bengal, cannot be left entirely to BJP leaders. It has, therefore, decided to quietly play an assertive role through its trained swayamsevaks. During the 2012 campaign, the strategy of eulogising Bengal’s icons, such as, Iswarchandra Vidyasagar, Rabindra Nath Tagore, Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay, Swami Vivekananda and a host of others, and thereby identify the party with Bengali culture and ethos, failed to click.  [

The RSS, therefore, would rather aim at garnering some ‘extra’ Hindu votes. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, BJP won 12 seats; six less than in 2019. But it got 39% of the valid votes. In-house exercises suggest a 5% swing in favour of the party, which obviously would be Hindu votes, which may dramatically alter the seat numbers in its favour at the cost of TMC.

But for this to happen, RSS needs to equip itself in West Bengal in order to offer solid support to BJP, even dictate the party’s top brass if need be. One of the reasons for BJP’s below-par show in the 2024 general elections, as per RSS, was lack of coordination between it and BJP. It does not want that situation repeated next year, said sources.

RSS sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat ended his visit in the state with a largely attended meeting at Talit in Purba Bardhaman district.

A 100% increase in the shakha network to 12,000 from the existing 6,000 in the state has been proposed by RSS. Perhaps, for the for the first time, Bhagwat urged people to join the Sangh and its associate outfits to “know the organisation and its working from within; there is no admission fee, one can leave when one wants”.

Also, the state unit observes Hindu religious occasions, such as Ram Navami, Hanuman Jayanti, Janmashtami and others on a large-scale in a bid to re-establish its credentials among those Hindus who have no connection with RSS and its 40 plus associates/affiliates and engages with them. This, the top RSS management feels, will help in attracting ‘new Hindu voters’ and help BJP in next year’s Assembly polls.

Engagement with new sections of the Hindus also figured at the annual Pratinidhi Sabha session of RSS held in Bengaluru from March 21-23, where stretching the point, the deliberations focused on the plight of Hindus in Bangladesh since July 2024 (when Sheikh Hasina was ousted), highlighting how a large number of Hindus had been victimised and many Hindu places of worship destroyed.

The Sabha decided that RSS would stand by the Hindus of Bangladesh and the issue of their ‘persecution’ would be posed to human rights organisations in as many countries as possible. Asked whether they would act in unison with the Hindu Bouddha Christian Aikya Parishad in Bangladesh, a senior state RSS functionary, Jishnu Basu, told NewsClick: “We would proceed systematically; action on this count brooks no delay”.

Political watchers here feel that issue of the ‘plight of Hindus’ in Bangladesh gels well with the RSS’s focus on helping BJP with the ‘extra’ Hindu vote share in the next Assembly elections. More so, because the ruling establishment in West Bengal is “turning a blind eye to the illegal entry of Rohingyas and Muslims” into the state. RSS sees in this as an opportunity by the ruling party to increase the vote percentage of minorities, which is already 29-30% in West Bengal.

 Senior RSS leaders also stressed on coordination and unity between RSS and all its frontal organisations and BJP at the two-day session held on February 28-March 1 at Uluberia in Howrah district, which followed Bhagwat’s 10-day stay in the state from February 7 to 16.

Organisational deficiencies had dented BJP’s ministry formation prospects in 2021, plus lack of coordination with Sangh Parivar outfits had cost the party six Lok Sabha seats. This explains why RSS wants to have a greater say in the 2026 Assembly elections in West Bengal.  The close but not-so-visible involvement of swayamsevaks is part of that strategy. As a cost, BJP will have to shed some decision-making authority, sources told NewsClick.

The writer is a senior freelance journalist based in Kolkata, West Bengal.