The BJP’s vote share and the RSS support base have both increased in West Bengal steadily over the past few years. In fact, the shakhas have increased by 70% in the last six years – a figure higher than the average increase in all other states. And yet the RSS leaders in Bengal are worried because this increase doesn’t quite reflect the ground reality.
The number of newly opened RSS shakhas has come down from the previous year. According to West Bengal’s RSS unit, the number of shakhas grew from 750 in 2013 to 1,279 in 2018. There were new 169 shakhas opened in the state last year – that that’s cause of worry for the RSS.
The Bengal’s Sangh unit has therefore planned training camps at five centres in May which 2,000 youths will join. This is to “inspire and motivate” them so that they in turn can make others join.
RSS South Bengal General Secretary, Jishnu Basu, said, “While the growth rate was around 40 per cent all over India, Bengal showed a rise of over 70 per cent.” But the leadership feels that many supporters interested in joining, could not do so fearing backlash from the ruling party and the government.
The RSS unit has been accusing the Mamata Banerjee government of being vindictive against the schools that run with RSS support. The future of over schools with 65,000 students under the supervision of Vivekananda Bidya Bikash Parishad has become uncertain. But the state government has ordered that 125 of these schools would be shut down and the authorities are planning legal action against the order.
