The compound of the Bharatiya Janata Party's central office at Ashoka Road here on Thursday was abuzz with hectic activity as placards were being made and volunteers of a brand new organisation, the Yuva Vahini, shouted slogans, with cheer-leaders telling them when and with what to respond.
Inside the room, where normally party literature of the BJP as well as that of its parent body, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, is sold, BJP workers were busy preparing placards for demonstrators in support of ‘Anna.' These mostly called for the resignation of one UPA Minister or another and decried the “most corrupt government since Independence.”
Just outside the gate, a large group of “volunteers” gathered for the launch of the Yuva Vahini. Said one enthusiastic person: “We are planning to enrol 10 lakh new volunteers, under the banner of the Yuva Vahini, to go to Ramlila Maidan to support Anna Hazare.” He pointed out that the party's youth wing president Anurag Thakur was in charge of this drive to recruit new volunteers.
ADVERTISEMENT
While young students, members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, were available, the new situation and the enthusiasm it has generated among the people was an opportunity for the party to garner more support and enrol them.
It was clear that the placards were not being brought by individual people, but were being supplied by the student wings of the party and the RSS.
As they cheered lustily just outside the party office gate, traffic on Ashoka Road came to a standstill and the police put up barricades. “We are practising the slogans we will use, first at India Gate where we will assemble, and then at the Ramlila Maidan, where we will go,” the person said smiling proudly, as he had been able to gather quite a crowd.
ADVERTISEMENT