BJP's Waqf Push, RSS Unity Drive to Offset Oppn's Caste Census Pitch

BJP conducting workshops, plans citizens' dialogue on Waqf Act and will attempt a parallel outreach to Muslims, particularly the poorer sections

- Brajendra K Parashar [e-mail]

[e-mail] LUCKNOW: The BJP has launched a massive countrywide campaign around the contentious Waqf (Amendment) Act 2025, positioning the law as a corrective measure to what it calls decades of appeasement politics even as the Opposition is criticising the legislation as "anti-Muslim."

In Uttar Pradesh, the BJP is conducting workshops on April 21-22 at the regional level, and on April 23-24 at the district level. Townhall events involving Muslim scholars, teachers, influencers, and professionals, will be held across cities on April 25, 28, and 29. Door-to-door campaigns are scheduled for April 26-28, while "Nagrik Samvad" (citizens' dialogue) will take place on May 2-3. The Women's and Youth Wings will also lead focused outreach events in early May.

Parallel to the BJP's campaign, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the former's ideological parent, though not associated with the Waqf Act push, is engaged in a broader ideological drive to unify Hindu society by reducing caste distinctions. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has been travelling to various cities in Uttar Pradesh, meeting people as part of the Sangh's centenary outreach, and stressing the need to remove caste barriers to strengthen Hindu unity. This month, he visited Varanasi, Lucknow, Kanpur and Aligarh, holding meetings there. Currently, he is in Aligarh on a five-day stay. He reached Aligarh after a gap of 14 years.

The Sangh has planned direct contact with every Hindu household by the coming Dussehra when it will be completing 100 years of its foundation.