PM Narendra Modi adopts Varanasi village already under RSS care

Jayapur, located in Raja Talaab tehsil nearly 25 km from Varanasi, has a population of 4,000. Of them, 2,700 are voters. The village is dominated by Bhumihars and Patels. Modi will visit the village on November 7 and is likely to announce some new schemes for its development.

Arvind Singh, a native of the village and RSS district co-general secretary, said, “We had adopted the village in 2002 and focused on planting trees, promoting animal husbandry and forming committees to take care of children. We are preparing for the PM’s visit. Let us see what more he does for the village.” Singh also claimed there is not a single Muslim family in the village.

Other BJP MPs have also tried to adopt villages already under RSS care. The Sangh has coined three categories for villages — Uday (where work has just been initiated), Kiran (where work is ongoing) and Prabhat (where significant work has been done).

Chief of the RSS Samagra Gram Vikas project, Dinesh Kumar, who was in Adilabad for the past three days to discuss the progress in these villages, told The Indian Express, “We have 175 villages in the Prabhat category and nearly 700 villages in Uday and Kiran categories.”

Since the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana was launched by Modi for MPs last month, the RSS has been discussing the fate of its villages, it is learnt. Sources said that the issue was raised at the Lucknow meeting of the Akhil Bhartiya Karyakari Mandal of the RSS last month, where several delegates said that there may be clashes and conflict if MPs adopt villages already being looked after by the RSS. Sources added that the RSS is likely to encourage BJP MPs not to adopt the same villages.

A senior RSS functionary, who did not wish to be named, said, “We are not too keen on MPs adopting our villages. Even if they adopt some of them, we will not let them use our workers.”