Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Cabinet minister O.P. Rajbhar’s Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), a BJP ally in the state, has launched its own “ideological” outfit and named it RSS—Rashtriya Suheldev Sena.
The party made attempts in the past too to launch their ideological outfit, but it did not take off. However, this time around, the party plans to widen the project, starting with training camps in 22 districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh from next week, and eventually expanding to all 75 districts.
Like the more famous Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), BJP fountainhead, the SBSP’s RSS volunteers too will have their own uniform, and shoulder badge. They will also carry a stick.
The Rashtriya Suheldev Sena (RSS), as envisaged by the SBSP, will train young people in its ideological principles, while also offering them career guidance.
The initiative is aimed at strengthening and expanding the party’s support base in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the 2027 elections. Uttar Pradesh Panchayati Raj Minister OP Rajbhar said his party has set an initial target of enrolling one lakh volunteers with the RSS.
“Today, in many villages, nearly 60 to 70 percent of students don’t know what they want to become. Through our RSS organisation, we will connect them with retired professionals from various fields, which will help them understand different career paths,” Rajbhar said in a video statement.
He added that volunteers will also be given official designations within the SBSP’s RSS.
Explaining the initiative in detail, Rajbhar’s son and party spokesperson Arun Rajbhar told ThePrint this is purely an ideological wing and not a political platform.
“Its purpose is to train and prepare our cadre for the future. We are focusing on rural youth between 18 and 25 years of age, many of whom lack access to proper career guidance. They will be trained under our RSS,” he said.
Arun said the party is in touch with retired bureaucrats, professionals, teachers and professors who would mentor these volunteers. They would not only provide ideological training but also teach volunteers about the contributions of Suheldev Rajbhar, Jyotiba Phule, Savitribai Phule and Chhatrapati Sahu Ji to the country and society.
He said their RSS has got nothing to do with the BJP or the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
“It (SBSP’s RSS) is a different kind of organisation. I have observed that youths from our community, especially from EBC groups, do not regularly attend shakhas, so we want them to join our RSS. Here, they will receive structured guidance from professionals,” he said.
He further said the volunteers will be given uniform along with a shoulder badge and a stick, to make them look like trained personnel.
ThePrint has learnt that in Rajbhar’s RSS structure, positions such as district commanders, assembly commanders, block commanders and village-level commanders will be created to build a tightly knit organisational network across Purvanchal, eastern parts of the state.
This large-scale exercise is aimed at strengthening the party’s presence right down to the booth level, sources said.
According to the sources close to OP Rajbhar, this is part of a new strategy to keep party workers engaged, especially after the setback of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections when his son lost the Ghosi seat, and a section of the cadre reportedly drifted towards the Samajwadi Party.
Through this initiative, Rajbhar is attempting to prevent further desertions and motivate workers by involving them in structured organisational activities. His larger focus is on mobilising the EBC community in eastern Uttar Pradesh, which accounts for nearly 25 per cent of the region’s population.
Rajbhar first joined hands with the party during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, but did not get a seat to contest. In 2017, he became an MLA for the first time by winning the Zahoorabad seat in Ballia.
As part of the BJP-led NDA grouping, his party won four out of the eight seats it contested in those polls. Rajbhar was made the Social Welfare Minister in the first Yogi government.
However, he quit the cabinet after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Later, in October 2021, he teamed up with the Samajwadi Party. In the 2022 UP assembly elections, his party did better than in 2017, winning six seats—two in Ghazipur and one each in Ballia, Mau, Jaunpur and Basti. In 2024, he re-joined NDA and is now a minister in the Yogi 2.0 government.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
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