Goyal meets MLAs as BJP begins BMC election prep
held meetings on Sunday with
MLAs and former party corporators from Mumbai North—his parliamentary constituency—to discuss preparations for the upcoming
.
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He also performed Shiv aarti with his supporters in Kandivli and Dahisar to celebrate the inclusion of 12 forts associated with Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj on the Unesco world heritage list.
BJP, which performed Shiv aartis across Mumbai on the weekend to celebrate the honour for 'Maratha military landscapes', has aggressively begun ground-level preparations for the election, with Goyal aiming to increase the corporators from Mumbai North from the last civic poll, in which BJP won 75% of the seats while contesting separately from Sena.
Mumbai North, a BJP bastion, is crucial for the party as it's the only seat out of the six in the city it won in the 2024 LS polls.
Goyal is regularly visiting the constituency as well as holding meetings with govt officials on clearing hurdles.
A party MLA said the Unesco tag will strengthen the party's support base across the state amid the ongoing debate over Hindi.
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Joshi, Sushma Swaraj, and a handful of others, backed Modi despite his track record of seizing complete control of the BJP in Gujarat on becoming Chief Minister in October 2001. He also kept the RSS at arm's length from the party and the State government, establishing functional autonomy from the ideological fountainhead. Despite the Chief Minister consciously promoting the Modi cult—for instance with masks of his face especially designed for the 2007 assembly election and again in 2012, Bhagwat endorsed his candidature. He did so because the Sangh Parivar had been out of power for a decade and he sensed a groundswell of support for Modi across large swathes of India. As the 2014 verdict proved, Modi led the BJP into becoming the first party since 1984 to secure a Parliamentary majority on its own without depending on coalition partners. Both the RSS and the BJP came to terms with the Modi-centrism of the government as well as the party. 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In contrast, the RSS viewpoint was that the choice should be agreeable to both and for that, widespread discussions were imperative. Also Read | The Sangh-sevak reunion: A strategic recalibration for BJP and RSS In the last week of March, when Modi belatedly went to the RSS Smriti Bhavan in Nagpur and joined an RSS-linked event with Bhagwat, it appeared that he had reconciled to consensually evolving key decisions with the RSS leadership. Operation Sindoor, however, changed that and the military exchange with Pakistan after the terrorist strike, Modi believed, had restored his popularity to previous levels. Quite clearly, this has delayed the selection of the BJP president. The choice, whenever announced, will be a clear pointer to how this round of tussles has squared off. There is little doubt that despite their decades-long association, the priorities of both men are personal leverage for Modi and the supremacy of the Sangh for Bhagwat. Barring Modi's pursuit of economic neo-liberalism and his political pragmatism, there is little to distinguish between the two. Undeniably, the possibility of Bhagwat and Modi walking into the sunset at almost the same time is not imminent. From the festival of Dussehra this year, the centenary celebrations of the RSS will begin in real earnest and last until Vijaya Dashami in 2026. Bhagwat may like this to be his swansong, even if Modi displays no signs of budging, contending that 'retirement at 75' is not a firm rule and that not all sarsanghchalaks bowed out of office on completing 75. Despite undeniable ambiguity on the matter, Modi's moral standing within the Sangh Parivar will take a beating, however slight, in the event of Bhagwat bowing out of office and Modi staying put amid a cacophony of prompted 'requests'. Consternation in the Modi camp A key factor that could make the path bumpy for Modi is the RSS reaching the conclusion that support for Hindutva among the people has acquired a critical mass, making the role of an individual leader less crucial. Modi's continuance in office depends on being considered absolutely essential for securing the BJP's victory in 2029 and maybe even ahead. Given Modi's instinctive character and the tenets of the RSS, especially its principle of putting sangathan over vyakti, it is extremely unlikely that the two can work harmoniously for long periods. Consequently, the only conclusion that can possibly be drawn at this point is that the RSS, and more so Bhagwat, will continue to make statements that cause awkwardness and consternation in the Modi camp. Internal dynamics within the Sangh Parivar have been unsettled since early 2024 and will likely remain so over the year. Author and journalist Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay has authored several books including a biography of PM Narendra Modi, on the RSS, and on the Ayodhya dispute.
