Ram Madhav has once again returned to active politics. Senior RSS leader Ram Madhav has been transferred to BJP, but the new task is also an old assignment. He has been made in-charge of Jammu and Kashmir.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has again entrusted Ram Madhav with the responsibility of Jammu and Kashmir. He has been made the in-charge of BJP for the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections along with Telangana BJP president G. Kishan Reddy.
Voting for the 90-member Jammu and Kashmir Assembly will be held in three phases. Voting will be held in Jammu and Kashmir on September 18, September 25 and October 1 – and the results are expected on October 4 along with Haryana.
How much did BJP need Ram Madhav?
The way Ram Madhav has been brought into the BJP, such possibilities had started appearing in the news even before the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh meeting held in Ranchi in July 2024, it is a different matter that the matter has been confirmed now.
Now the question is whether BJP felt the need for Ram Madhav or has he been sent to BJP as part of some specific strategy of the Sangh?
Ram Madhav is the President of India Foundation. India Foundation is a think tank. Ram Madhav has also served as the National General Secretary of BJP from 2014-20 – and apart from Jammu and Kashmir, he has extensive experience of working in Assam and North East.
From forming the BJP coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir in 2014 to hoisting the saffron flag in Tripura in 2018, Ram Madhav has played a special role. From forming a coalition government with PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti in Jammu and Kashmir to preparing for the removal of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, Ram Madhav has also played an important role.
Then it is clear that Ram Madhav has been brought back to BJP for the same work in Jammu and Kashmir as before. If any other leader of the Sangh had joined BJP instead of Ram Madhav, it would have had a different meaning, but this matter is about Ram Madhav, so the interest increases.
Ram Madhav has been brought into the BJP at a time when during the Lok Sabha elections, BJP President JP Nadda had in a way denied the importance of the Sangh in BJP’s politics. JP Nadda said, ‘BJP has now become much stronger than before… so now there is no need for the support of the Sangh.’
Certainly, JP Nadda must have said these things due to the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya and the confidence filled with the atmosphere in favor of BJP in the elections, but if the Sangh felt that this is nothing but the arrogance of the BJP leadership speaking, then it was right. The Sangh also gave advice to the BJP leadership in its own way, and the role of the non-cooperation of the Sangh will also be considered in BJP falling behind the majority. The Sangh had called the meeting in Ranchi in view of the Jharkhand assembly elections, but the elections have not been announced there yet.
Ram Madhav being sent back to BJP is a sign that RSS is getting worried about BJP. And it is true too, if BJP is not able to win the elections and loses power then what will happen to RSS’s agenda of nation building and keeping Hindus united? Even if Ram Mandir is built in Ayodhya by the order of Supreme Court, but before that RSS had started asking that if the temple will not be built in Ayodhya when Modi is the Prime Minister and Yogi Adityanath is the Chief Minister of UP then when will it be built?
The new responsibility given to Ram Madhav is telling that BJP needed him, and the Sangh has taken this step deliberately – and Ram Madhav’s first responsibility is to ensure BJP’s victory in the assembly elections to be held in the changed system of Jammu and Kashmir after a decade.
And even if they cannot ensure BJP’s victory, at least they should make such arrangements that BJP’s voice resonates on important issues in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly. The rest of the things will be seen later.
Jammu and Kashmir is full of challenges
The results of the Lok Sabha elections 2024 have made the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections more interesting. There are 5 Lok Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir, but the BJP contested only two seats, and won both – but the BJP did not field any candidates on the remaining three seats, while it did not have any electoral alliance with anyone.
BJP had contested the elections only on Jammu and Udhampur seats, but had left the seats of the valley. If seen, it is becoming difficult for BJP to establish its foothold there – but even after coming at the last moment, how much and what will Ram Madhav be able to do, this still remains a question.
One special thing that was seen in the Lok Sabha elections was that just as BJP had left three seats, INDIA Block had also left the two seats where BJP was contesting – but the biggest upset was seen in Baramulla Lok Sabha seat where independent candidate Engineer Rashid won the election by defeating National Conference leader Omar Abdullah.
Omar Abdullah has already refused to contest the assembly elections, but his party is participating in the elections. Similarly, Mehbooba Mufti’s party PDP is also going to contest the elections – and the special thing is that Mehbooba Mufti’s daughter Iltija is also contesting the elections this time.
In such an environment, Ram Madhav has been given the responsibility of helping the BJP cross the electoral river in Jammu and Kashmir – and this path is full of difficulties.