With the BJP coming to power for a third consecutive time, albeit without enough numbers to achieve a majority on its own, the party and its ideological fountainhead, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, will hold a meeting in which the Lok Sabha results will also be reviewed.
The venue of the meeting will be Kerala’s Palakkad, which is significant because the BJP has opened its account in the state for the first time and the party had put a lot of emphasis on the south in the run-up to the polls in an attempt to better its tally in the region.
The coordination meeting, held once a year between members of the Sangh Parivar, is scheduled for July 31-August 2.
The BJP managed to win 240 Lok Sabha seats in the just-concluded Lok Sabha elections, down 63 from its 2019 tally and way off its oft-repeated targets of 370 on its own and 400 for the NDA. The NDA clinched 293 seats, paving the way for PM Narendra Modi to return for a historic third term.
Kerala has the highest number of RSS shakhas (local units) and the BJP has won a Lok Sabha seat in the state for the first time. Thrissur, where actor-politician Suresh Gopi emerged victorious with a margin of over 74,000 votes, is also important for the RSS because it is home to one of the greatest Hindu temple festivals, called the Thrissur Pooram.
The coordination meeting is being seen as an attempt to send a message in a state where RSS workers have often been at the receiving end of violence. Sources said it will also help strengthen the BJP in the south, where it failed to increase its tally from 29 in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, ending up with the exact same figure this time. It did, however, post gains in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala to make up for the seats it lost in Karnataka, thereby expanding its footprint.
The meeting comes in the backdrop of the BJP getting ready to pick a new party president since JP Nadda has returned to the Union Cabinet. Certain RSS leaders have also pointed to arrogance among some in the BJP having contributed to the party’s reduced strength.
