The Silent Wave

How the Sangh Parivar, the silent workers of Hindutva, turned the tide in BJP's favour

- Shweta Desai

WHEN the dates for the Maharashtra assembly polls were formally announced in mid-October this year, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) activists in the remote corners of the state’s Gondia district weren’t just gearing up; they hit the ground running, armed with a meticulously crafted blueprint.

Waving saffron flags and sounding cymbals and conches, they marched through residential alleys in the early morning hours, reminding voters of their electoral responsibility. At the forefront was their leader, Devesh Mishra, clad in a black t-shirt emblazoned with the slogan batenge toh katenge (divided, we will suffer), delivering a rousing appeal. “On November 20, get out of your houses and go to the polling booths for Hindutva’s victory. If you want to save your religion, then make use of your votes, Jai Shri Ram.”

The upcoming elections were particularly significant for ensuring that Gondia gets its first BJP legislator. Located near the state’s land border with adjoining Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Gondia is the farthest district of east Maharashtra and a part of the infamous naxal-influenced ‘Red Corridor’. The district is home to a mix of Gond, Gowari, Halbi and Bhil Adivasi communities, as well as a large population of Hindi-speaking trading communities. Traditionally, it had been a stronghold of the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) until 2014, when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the Lok Sabha seat for the first time.

Mishra and his associates refrained from mentioning any political outfit, but his entourage’s saffron-infused symbolism made its political drift pretty evident. The