Appointments to key joint general secretary posts in BJP that are reserved for Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh members in the central office bearers’ team as well as in states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Odisha and Uttarakhand are also likely to be made at the ‘Samanvay Baithak’, RSS insiders said. BJP president J P Nadda has assigned new responsibilities to joint general secretaries (organisation) Saudan Singh, V Satish and Shiv Prakash, creating vacancies in these posts.
Upcoming assembly polls, particularly in West Bengal, ways in which RSS and its affiliates have adapted during Covid-19, and challenges of expansion of the organisation under are among the core issues that will be discussed in the coordination meeting between RSS and its affiliates, insiders said.
The meeting will be presided over by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, while Nadda and BJP national organisation secretary BL Santhosh will be present. Senior functionaries from RSS affiliates are also expected to be there, ET has learnt. Some union ministers and some state chief ministers are also expected to attend the meeting.
Apart from attending the RSS meeting, Nadda and Santhosh will meet with party workers and functionaries of Gujarat. According to an RSS functionary, Samanvay Baithak is a regular annual affair, but significantly important this time as a meeting of senior functionaries is being held after a long time.
The high-decibel assembly election in West Bengal for which BJP has been campaigning aggressively is among the foremost concerns for the Sangh.
A functionary said the organisation has been particularly concerned about “growing infiltration from Bangladesh in West Bengal and Islamic radicalism – six Al-Qaeda terrorists were arrested from Alipurduar recently”.
“All our affiliates are working to raise awareness among people of the state,” he said. Sangh organisations in the state have particularly highlighted problems in Bengal Duars, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts and the upper region of Cooch Behar district, he said.
For some years, the Sangh had been favourably aligned towards West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee for her struggle and victory against the communists, but in the last few years the “growing concern around the safety of the Bengali Hindu” has forced it to take a relook, the person said.
Another senior functionary said the Sangh has also been concerned about the influx of Trinamool Congress leaders and cadre into the BJP. “We understand it is necessary for the larger goal to defeat the TMC, but we want to also make sure that the ‘chaal, charitra and chehra’ of Sangh Parivar is not affected,” he said. RSS will play a prominent role in the selection of candidates too, the person said, recalling that in 2019 polls, at least 29 of the 42 candidates of BJP had close links to RSS.