For many, it is RSS supremo Mohan Bhagwat and his team and not the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah duo who will handle the high-stakes electoral battle in Kerala, where the Sangh Parivar has a strong organisational presence but the BJP has never sent any representative to the Assembly or the Lok Sabha. Assembly polls are likely in May-June. Mr Bhagwat had visited the poll-bound state recently and met Senior sangh leaders. The RSS hopes to ally with Hindu organisations in the state, that has mostly seen Congress or Left.

The BJP and the Sangh has been highlighting among other issues the state’s “demographic imbalance”, hoping to consolidate Hindu votes. Sangh cadres are quoting census to show how minorities, including Muslims, have almost surpassed the Hindu population, which they say could prove “detrimental” for Kerala. The Oommen Chandy-led UDF government is now facing an onslaught over the solar scam and the bar licence scam, and the Opposition, including Left-led LDF, feel there is a strong anti-incumbency against the Congress-led alliance.

From soon-to-be-launched door-to-door campaigns to monitoring and coordination in each and every district, sources said “Nagpur” (where the RSS headquarters is based) is playing a decisive role in the election strategy. BJP president Amit Shah will visit the state on February 4, his first visit after being re-elected party president, to discuss election-related strategies with party leaders.

Sources said the RSS is also involved in the BJP’s probable alliances. A team of RSS-BJP leaders has been made in-charge of each Assembly constituency while RSS and BJP leaders are keeping tabs at the booth level.

Late VHP leader Ashok Singhal played a crucial role in the coming together of the BJP and SNDP (Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana), which represents the electorally and numerically-powerful Hindu Ezhavas community. Ezhvas have traditionally voted for the Left. The BJP recently appointed VHP man Kummanam Rajashekharan as its state unit chief. Interestingly, Mr Rajashekharan belongs to the Nair community, which the BJP is wooing.

Speculation is rife that two leaders close to the RSS, P.P. Mukundan and K. Raman Pillai, could be reinducted into the BJP’s state unit. Mr Pillai, who is the BJP’s former organisational secretary, had quit the party and floated his political outfit. Both Mr Mukundan and Mr Pillai also belong to the powerful Nair community in the state.