From police stations and tehsil offices to block and district headquarters, a familiar complaint continues to resonate among the RSS-BJP grassroots cadre in Uttar Pradesh: while the government may be theirs, the administration often does not listen to them.
The grievance, which emerged prominently during the BJP’s review of its performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, has resurfaced in feedback meetings being held by the party and the RSS ahead of the 2027 assembly polls. In Kanpur last week, a few BJP office-bearers complained to national general secretary (Organisation) BL Santosh about the lack of response to party workers at police stations. Santosh’s response was interesting: workers need not keep making rounds of police stations and should concentrate on strengthening the organisation. The similar grievances surfaced days later at the RSS-BJP coordination meeting for the Awadh region in Lucknow and a day later in meetings chaired by BJP national general secretary and party’s UP in-charge Vinod Tawde in Gorakhpur. Senior leaders acknowledged the grievance but advised workers to put it aside and focus on organisational work and the coming election.
Workers shared their “pain” of allegedly not being heard at government offices, including thanas and tehsils.
Senior BJP leader and UP minister Daya Shankar Singh acknowledged that party workers sometimes feel frustrated when they recall the kind of influence the other parties’ workers wielded at local offices during their governments. For the moment, the message from the central leadership appears to be that the grievance is acknowledged and recorded but the cadre must not allow it to distract them from the election.
What makes the complaint politically significant is its longevity, according to many. After the BJP’s setback in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the party’s review had recorded allegations that its cadre had been ignored or “humiliated” at local police stations and tehsil offices, continuing their disenchantment and lack of enthusiasm during the campaign. “Now, the time for making and listening to complaints is over as we are already on the battlefield where the only goal must be to emerge the winner,” another minister said.
