The public is supreme in a democracy and everyone should respect its decision, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh said on Sunday, in response to queries about the BJP’s tally decreasing to 240 in the Lok Sabha elections. The comments were made by Sunil Ambekar, Akhil Bharatiya Prachar Pramukh of the RSS, on the concluding day of a three-day Prant Pracharak meeting in Ranchi. “In a democracy, the public is supreme; that's what democracy is. All political parties take their messages to the people during elections. And people make their decision based on those messages. I think the public has made its decision, and everyone should respect it,” he said. Ambekar also said that the RSS does not get involved in any election-related work, but focuses on “lokmat parishkar (shaping public opinion)”. With the assembly elections in Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand scheduled in a few months, the meeting discussed strategies to expand the RSS network. Sources had earlier indicated that the possibility of RSS members helping the BJP more actively in the run-up to assembly elections could come up for discussion. However, Ambekar said that “these things are not divulged publicly”. An RSS leader said this topic could be discussed at the samanvay baithak in August-September in Kerala. On BJP president J P Nadda’s remark that the party has grown from the time when it needed the RSS, and now runs itself, Ambekar said, “Sangh lagataar lokmat parishkar ka kaam karta hai aur seedhe chunaav ke karyon mein nahi lagta hai, aur woh kaam is baar bhi kiya hai (The Sangh continuously works to shape public opinion and does not get directly involved in elections, and that’s what the RSS has done this time too).” During the meeting, topics such as a review of the Sangh's training camps and plans for the RSS centenary-year (2025-26) were discussed. Ambekar said the youth have expressed a desire to join the Sangh in large numbers. The Sangh started an online medium in the year 2012 under the ‘Join RSS’ campaign, where every year around 1.25 lakh people get involved in various activities online. This year, by June-end, 66,529 people have expressed a desire to join the Sangh, he said. He said that by “Vijayadashami 2025” – when the RSS completes 100 years – the target is to expand its work in all divisions in rural areas and settlements in urban areas. “By March 2024, out of 58,981 mandals in the country, there was a direct daily branch in 36,823. Similarly, in urban areas, out of 23,649 settlements, there is Sangh work in 14,645. The remainder have weekly or monthly contact.”
