KOLKATA: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its affiliates have grown threefold in the past five years in West Bengal, according to a report recently released by the organisation in Kolkata.
The report states that both the number of shakhas and affiliated educational institutions have increased in the eastern State where the BJP is fighting a bitter battle against the incumbent Trinamool Congress. According to the report, while there were just 580 shakhas in West Bengal in 2011, the number rose to 1,280 in 2014 and 1,492 in December 2016. Of the total number of shakhas, south Bengal has the majority with 1,069 whereas north Bengal has 426. The report stated that within a year in 2015-16, 295 new shakhas were opened in the State.
RSS-affiliated schools have also seen a phenomenal rise in numbers. There are around 309 RSS-affiliated primary schools in the state in which 3,193 appointed educators teach around 66,090 students. Of the total students, around 23,069 are girls. Schools in the North and South 24 Parganas districts; Malda, Coochbehar and Nadia have witnessed the most growth.
Recently, the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government had threatened to shut down 125 RSS-affiliated schools for not following the West Bengal board syllabus, and for allegedly imparting extremist education in the name of nationalism.
RSS sarsanghchalak, Mohan Bhagwat, had expressed concern over the reduction in the Hindu population in West Bengal, during the three-day Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha convention held recently in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. The organization had also expressed concern over a rise in anti-national Jihadi activities in West Bengal and passed resolutions against alleged atrocities on Hindus, and the appeasement of Muslims in the Mamata Banerjee-led border State.
The parent body of the Sangh Parivar, which has tasted zenith of say in decision-making in governance buoyed by successive wins in several States, has decided to aim its guns at West Bengal. With a decimated Left and a feeble Congress, the BJP, backed by the organisational strength of the RSS is hoping to emerge as the major opposition, and is leaving no stone unturned to turn the rural tide away from the Trinamool Congress, which enjoys massive support in the hinterlands of Bengal.