Lucknow: Seeking to make its presence felt in Mulayam Singh Yadav's citadel ahead of the 2017 UP Assembly polls, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is holding a 'Siksha Varg' campaign in Etawah, the native place of the Samajwadi Party patriarch.
The three-week-long event that began on Monday is ostensibly aimed at imparting education to students and teachers on national integrity.
But the timing and venue of the annual event, being held for the first time in Etawah in the 90-year history of the Sangh, assumes significance ahead of the crucial Assembly polls barely some months away.
"The RSS is holding a 22-day-long 'Siksha Varg' camp in Etawah," a senior party functionary told PTI in Lucknow. Other than Etawah, the camp is being held simultaneously in state capital Lucknow and few other places in the state, he said. "RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat will address the camp in Lucknow on May 29," he said.
Political observers say the camp has been organised to marginalise the impact of the Samajwadi Party and to influence the masses in favour of BJP in the Assembly elections.
These camps, an annual feature, would also make people aware of Hinduism, the RSS functionary said.
Every day several workshops would be held and these would be addressed by senior RSS functionaries.
The camps would start in the morning with regular 'Shakha' which would include physical exercise, yoga and games.
After lunch and some rest, the cadre would listen to the address by senior Sangh pracharaks and top functionaries. The annual camp provides an opportunity to participants to "know, understand and experience Bharat".
The venue presents the look of 'mini Bharat' as swayamsevaks drawn from various provinces, speaking different languages, having varied food and clothing habits and coming from different climates stay together for over 20 days, providing a chance to interact, learn and understand the real 'Bharat', an RSS leader said.
The 76-year-old Yadav chieftain belongs to Saifai village in the district, 250 km from Lucknow.
Recently, the state cabinet approved construction of an international cricket stadium in Saifai in Etawah which boasts of a lion safari, a top-of-the-line medical institute, and some other state-of-the-art facilities.
