“Those who talk of secularism in Indian politics are the ones who spread the poison of communalism for vote bank politics. The country is facing a grave problem [of having no ideology]; many are neither rightist nor leftist, but are opportunists,” Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Monday.
The senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader was addressing a convocation ceremony of the first batch of a nine-month leadership course at the RSS-linked Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini (RMP).
The ‘leadership, politics and governance’ course at RMP’s lush green campus in Uttan, Bhayander (West), saw 32 students graduating from 14 States with varied backgrounds, including information technology, business and student politics.
The students were taught policy analysis, use of Right to Information Act, and contemporary Indian history, with lectures from the likes of BJP leaders Poonam Mahajan, Sambit Patra, V. Satish, and RSS joint general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale. They also interacted with BJP president Amit Shah, Smriti Irani and journalist Arnab Goswami.
Some learned the ropes during the Karnataka elections and picked up insights into countering the Congress on social media. “The BJP and the right wing are at least fact based on social media. But Congress’s trolls spread propaganda with fake videos. In Karnataka, [the Congress IT cell] spread a video which claimed if BJP came to power it will rid India of caste reservations. This negative politics of the tukde tukde and urban naxals is dividing the country,” said student Abhimanyu Rao (27), who has an IT degree from London. He plans to join the strategy and IT cell of the Rajasthan BJP.
Some students already have a sangh background. An MBA graduate and former treasurer of the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, Bhunesh Gupta said “pseudo intelligentsia” is blowing lynching incidents out of proportions. He said, “If I were [Narendra] Modi, I wouldn’t mind taking funds from the Adanis and the Ambanis. Can you get funding from the poor for the party and country’s development?”
RMP vice-president and BJP Rajya Sabha MP Vinay Sahasrabuddhe said students have also been trained in assessing the swing vote, statistics and voter demography among other technical strategies. “We want them to do vikas ki rajneeti . Many parties don’t have the reach and talent to do so.”
