Former Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has advised the Congress to adopt the outreach model of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for its Mission 80, which envisages winning 80 seats in the State’s 2021 Assembly election.
He insisted he was opposed to the RSS ideology but appreciated how the organisation — “the Bharatiya Janata Party’s backbone” — reaches out to people at the grass roots level.
“The reason behind our party’s debacle is dwindling mass contact. The Congress must follow the RSS model, minus the religious ideology to reconnect with people,” Mr. Gogoi said.
The BJP and its regional allies in 2016 ended the Congress’s 15-year rule in Assam. The victory march of the saffron party began with the 2014 Lok Sabha election, when it won seven of Assam’s 14 seats, adding two more in the 2019 polls.
The 2016 victory in the State paved the way for the BJP to gain a foothold in the Northeast. The party now rules six of the eight northeastern States on its own or in alliance.
The other two States are ruled by regional parties aligned with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.
“There is no harm in learning how the RSS has expanded through a network of socio-cultural organisations in Assam and elsewhere in the Northeast. The organisation helped BJP build mass contact. We need to do the same to understand the problems and aspirations of the people better and regain lost ground,” Mr .Gogoi said.
The former Chief Minister also advised the Congress to create a separate RSS-like cadre for mobilising mass support.
Gauging the mood of the people and targeting the BJP-led government accordingly would go a long way in the Congress winning at least 80 of the 126 Assembly seats, Mr. Gogoi said.
