Interpreting Madhya Pradesh Voting Patterns

in my article). In fact, one has to differentiate the actions of the BJP government in 1990-92 from the grass roots level work of the RSS and certain of its offshoots, such as the Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram which has entered tribal areas and propagates Hindu nationalist ideas under the garb of social work. Rahul implicitly admits this in his subsequent article: "The BJP ably aided by the RSS has worked tirelessly to woo these sections [the tribals, the dalits and the OBCs] and succeeded in forming a committed cadre even in the remote Naxalite controlled areas of Bastar" (p 1690). He himself differentiates the BJP's activities from the work of other organisations of the 'Sangh parivar' when he writes: 'The BJP could emerge as a force precisely because the RSS systematically began cultivating the OBCs and later dalits and tribals to capitalise on the resentment among these sections at the policies being pursued by the INC" (p 1692).