Sangh Parivar seeks foothold in West Bengal by organising 'shakas'

Buoyed by BJP's emergence as a key player in West Bengal politics, RSS and affiliates of Sangh Parivar are now aiming to gain a strong foothold in the state. "There is a surge in favour of RSS throughout the country and Bengal is also a part of it. Anger of the majority community against the appeasement of the minorities may be an added reason in Bengal. Our aim is now to reach to every block of the state," RSS chief spokesperson Manmohan Vaidya told PTI.

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat made recent visits to the state and over 10,000 Sangh Parichiti Vargas (Know RSS campaigns) have been organised in the past few months. "Earlier the number of shakas organised by us was not so impressive but now these have increased to a large extent in the past two years. Now we organise around 1500 daily shakas in entire Bengal region. The RSS and its ideology are now attracting people from all sections of the society," RSS spokesperson (South Bengal) Jishnu Basu said.

The VHP, another ideological off-wing of RSS, which aggressively advocates the concept of Hindu Rastra, too claims to have an increased membership base in the past one year. "At present we have around 80,000 activists throughout the state which is three times more what we used to have in 2012. We are targeting to increase our membership to near about two lakhs this year," VHP state leader Sachindranath Singha said.

According to RSS and VHP leaders, issues of Bangladeshi infiltration, minority appeasement and anti-national fundamentalist activities which came into forefront following the October 2 Burdwan blast, are some of issues that they are using to reach out to the masses. "We are focusing on JMB terror modules, section of madrasas as breeding grounds of terrorism, and Bangladeshi infiltration as some of the main issues we are using to reach out to the masses. And we are getting a very good response," Singha claimed.

BJP's students' wing ABVP, which till yesterday was a non entity in the state's student's politics which is polarised between Trinamool Chatra Parishad (TMCP) and CPI(M)'s wing SFI, has made its presence felt by winning elections in two colleges in the state after a decade. 

"Earlier during Left rule, we were not allowed to open units in colleges. But in the last two years, our ideology is gaining popularity among the masses. Earlier we had only 10,000 activists in the state but now we have now more than 50,000. In our next membership drive, we hope to have more than one lakh members in the state," ABVP state secretary Subir Haldar said.

On the farmers and labour front too, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) and Bharatiya Kishan Sangh (BKS) have been very vocal. "We have been organising small meetings with farmers in every block of the state. On the issue of minimum support price for paddy, farmers suicide we have organised several movements with the support of farmers. Our membership too has increased four times in last two years," Anil Rai of BKS said.

The labour sector, which was till 2013 was politically polarised between CITU and Trinamool's INTTUC, now has the presence of BMS as a dominant trade union in several industrial belts especially in the jute belts of Hoogly.

The Purvanchal Kalyan Ashram, an tribal wing of RSS, too is aiming to expand its base in the SC, ST, tribal and OBC-dominated districts of Purulia, Bankura, West and East Midnapore.

Rashtra Sevika Samiti has been reaching out to women on issues of increasing incidents of rape and torture against them in the state. "Now on a daily basis we organise more than 100 shakas for women. We are trying to sensitise women about the threats they are facing and the measures they should take to safeguard themselves. We are also harping on girl child education in tribal areas and other women issues," Sevika Samiti's organising secretary Rita Chakraborty said.

BJP national secretary Siddharth Nath Singh welcomed the growth of other organisations under Sangh Parivar saying "their ideals are getting acceptance from the masses".

Both Opposition Left Front and ruling Trinamool Congress claimed there was a danger to communal harmony with the growth of these groups. "The growth of BJP along with these organisations of Sangh Parivar are a threat to the communal harmony of the state. They are trying to spread the poison of communalism by dividing communities," TMC MP Sultan Ahmed said.

"These groups have grown under the tutelage of TMC in last three years as they wanted them to grow to counter Left. Now TMC is at the receiving end. The fact that Sangh Parivar has been non existent in Bengal during Left rule shows only Left can fight them," CPI(M) MP Mohammed Salim said.