India: Modi's electoral support team in UP are bigtime hindutva hardliners

Narendra Modi gets ‘Hindutva’ support team

New Delhi: BJP’s election campaign committee head and Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi will sell development and good governance in Uttar Pradesh with the help of Hindutva hardliners, in the coming electoral battle. Hindutva hardliners in the saffron party — Uma Bharti, Vinay Katiyar, Yogi Adityanath and Varun Gandhi — will play the supportive role for Modi.

As per the RSS electoral blueprint for the party, while Modi will mainly focus on the development and good governance card, the hardliners will help in reviving “Hindutva” to consolidate the BJP’s support base.

In the recent years, Modi, considered as the frontrunner for the Prime Ministerial candidate post for the Lok Sabha polls, has reinveted himself from a “Hindutva mascot” to development oriented leader.

Modi’s close aide and BJP’s national general secretary Amit Shah, who is party’s in-charge of the state, during his recent visit at Ayodhya had revived the saffron party’s Ram temple promise.
The same strategy would be applied by the primary Opposition party in Bihar as well.

While the rank and file in the BJP is enthused following poll surveys suggesting that the party would significantly gain in the state, the sangh parivar strategy it seems is not to dilute “Hindutva” but at the same time attract youth, new and floating voters on development and good governance planks.

The BJP is also focussing on the OBC votebank in the state. The parivar has realised that Modi’s support base is because of his image of a development oriented leader. RSS top brass is expected to meet senior BJP leaders next week to discuss poll strategy and other issues.

The RSS is hoping sharp polarisation of votes in the state, which had brought the BJP at the national political level after the Ramjanambhoomi movement. The BJP is desperately trying to regain its lost ground in the state where it won only 10 seats in the last Lok Sabha polls.

The RSS, it was learnt, wants the BJP to mainly focus on the development and good governance model but to blend in “Hindutva” so as not to disappoint its core vote-bank.


source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com/130729/news-politics/article/narendra-modi-gets-%E2%80%98hindutva%E2%80%99-support-team