The organisation president and the general secretary of each of the 32 organisations will be present at the annual meet scheduled for three days from August 31 - September 02, the RSS official said. Last year, a similar bhaithak (meeting) was organised in Pune. These meetings often involve high-level discussions where the RSS charts the roadmap for its sister concerns to be carried out during the year.

In September 2023, it was organised in Pune, Maharashtra. In the Akhil Bharatiya Samanvay Baithak, key office-bearers of various Sangh-inspired organisations, participate as per invitation.

While the RSS chief Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat and Sarkaryavah Dattatreya Hosabale will preside over the entire function, all the six Sah Sarkaryavah and other senior office-bearers are expected to participate in this meeting from the RSS. A few of the affiliated attending the annual meet include the Rashtra Sevika Samiti, Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), Bharatiya Janata Party, Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, Vidya Bharati, and Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh.

“The focal point of all discussions will be on how each unit can contribute to the larger goals of the Sangh. For each of the 32 units, a pre-set agenda has been designed and one person from the Sangh will be deputed to supervise the functioning throughout the year,” said the Sangh official quoted above.

Who from the BJP is attending and what is the agenda?

A Kerala BJP leader, who asked not to be named, referred to the mega meet as the ‘Sangh’s Annual General Meeting’, or AGM. In addition to current president JP Nadda and organisation secretary BL Santosh, other senior ministers are expected to be present in Palakkad. Sanjay Joshi, the former national general secretary who led the BJP to victory in nearly nine states during his tenure is considered to be one of the invitees from the party.

“Just as each organisation will present a report of activities undertaken in the last year, the BJP will also present its report on the Lok Sabha election that concluded in June this year. There will be a detailed discussion on this,” a senior BJP functionary from the state said.

Bilateral meetings between the BJP and Sangh have been scheduled where leaders from both organisations are expected to sort out their differences, the leader, cited above, said. “The Sangh is not entirely pleased with the party currently. Several internal issues that the BJP and the RSS are not seeing eye to eye will be sorted. Recent appointments made by the BJP and the upcoming posts waiting to be filled shall be reviewed,” said the BJP official quoted above. Policy decisions and deviations in the last four months since the government’s formation are also on the agenda.

A key appointment and announcement expected at the end of this meeting would be that of the BJP’s new working president. Former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis is one name for the post doing the rounds so far.

In the 72 hours they will be together, several senior functionaries of both institutions will have closed-door meetings. The decisions made by the ruling party at the Ranchi meeting of the Akhil Bharatiya Karya Karini where the BJP state and union leaders met in July will also be revisited.

The significance of the RSS & BJP meeting

This annual meeting is significant because it will set the tone for the ensuing internal elections of the BJP.

The preparedness of the party for the upcoming elections in Haryana, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Jammu and Kashmir will be assessed, the BJP leaders, cited above, said. “For instance, in the last baithak, it was decided that Kerala would be split into two organisational units - Uttara Kerala Prantham and Dakshina Kerala Prantham. This was done to allow greater autonomy for each unit to hold meetings and rallies in the two regions of Kerala keeping in mind the Lok Sabha elections. Similar decisions to meet the outlined political objectives could be taken this year too,” said the BJP leader.

With the Ayodhya Ram Mandir consecrated, Article 370 revoked, the Bill on Triple Talak becoming an Act, and the Uniform Civil Code also tabled for discussion, most issues enlisted by the founding leadership of the Jan Sangh, the earlier version of the BJP has been fulfilled.

The RSS is expected to draw up an action plan with key focus areas for the future

Herein lies the challenge, said G Gopakumar, former vice chancellor of the Kerala Central University in Thiruvananthapuram. “The BJP has many interest groups to satisfy given that it is now in a coalition government. It has to project itself as more secular, and pluralistic. This is where differences could arise between the BJP and its ideological parent.”

Gopakumar who taught politics at the university said he does not expect the differences between the RSS and the BJP to “sink the ship”. Instead, he said the two have to find a way to ensure ideological principles and electoral victories have to come and meet halfway. “The RSS realises that the Hindutva plank did not work before the caste reservation issue brought tabled by the Congress. So too the development plank which PM Modi constantly talked about. I would expect a fair bit of introspection on both sides.”

Deepika Amirapu is a freelance journalist based in Hyderabad. Each week, Southern Lights examines the big story from one of the five states of South India.