Varanashi(UP): Even as BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi is reaching out to the Muslims ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has come forward to “unite the Hindus” of Uttar Pradesh to ensure BJP’s victory across the 80 constituencies in the state. RSS, which is perceived to be BJP’s ideological backbone, has called for the ‘unity’ to thwart alleged ploys to “divide the Hindus.”

On Thursday evening, in a closed-door meeting of the RSS leaders of Kashi Prant at Varanasi’s Nivedita Shiksha Sadan, Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat expressed his concern over the “victimisation of the Hindus” across the country in general and Uttar Pradesh, in particular.

“The Hindus are being attacked all over India including in UP. Whatever is happening in Muzaffarnagar after the riots is the evidence. The majority community has been victimised on the pretext of checking communal violence and anti-national activities. The next government at the Centre will have to take stringent action against such forces and take firm steps to stop this trend,” Bhagwat was quoted as saying.

Bhagwat also claimed that the Congress and its allies at the Centre were trying to divide the Hindu community with ulterior motive. “The Jain community has been put in the list of ‘minority’ communities to divide the Hindus. We all know that Jainism is an integral part of Hinduism. The intellectuals of Jain community don’t want to be listed in the ‘minority’ category,” he further said.

Senior RSS leaders Indresh Kumar and Madhu Bhai Kulkarni were also present at the meeting along with over 30 Sangh pracharaks. The RSS meeting will conclude on February 16.

According to sources, the saffron brigade is sure that polarisation on religious lines will benefit BJP. They also believe that SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and leaders of other political parties are indirectly helping Modi by holding him responsible for 2002 communal violence in Gujarat even when the Supreme Court has upheld the Special Investigation Team clean chit to him.

“The aggressiveness with which Mulayam and some Congress leaders are calling him anti-Muslim has created insecurity among the majority community. Our ultimate analysis is that the Hindus are uniting against the SP and Congress. There would be negative voting in this situation. A large number of Hindus, who didn’t believe in the BJP, are preparing to support Modi because they want to reject SP and the Congress leaders. We have been discussing this trend at our meetings almost every day,” said an RSS worker on the condition of anonymity.

He said UP BJP chief Laxmi Kant Bajpai held a meeting with Bhagwat on Friday to discuss the progress in Lok Sabha candidate selection.