Lucknow: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s visit to Mathura-Vrindavan on Tuesday — his second within a span of 15 days and third since Jan — swung the arc lights on the Sangh’s strategy to turn the Braj region into a crucible of ideological consolidation, organisational expansion and quiet political signalling ahead of the UP Assembly elections due early next year. Bhagwat’s presence at the Malook Das Jayanti event at Malook Peeth, a prominent Sanatan institution, headed by Jagadguru Dwaracharya Swami Rajendra Das, was not merely ceremonial. It highlighted the Sangh’s engagement with religious leadership in the region. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath also reached the peeth to attend the function later in the day. Sources said that Bhagwat’s visit attains significance against the backdrop of Mathura getting projected as part of a Hindu civilisational triangle along with Ayodhya and Kashi (Varanasi). While Ayodhya has already seen the political culmination of the Ram temple movement and Varanasi has been reshaped through redevelopment, Mathura represents the next frontier of cultural assertion, analysts said. Sources said that the Sangh was not treating Mathura as a one-off mobilisation site but as a long-term ideological laboratory to mobilise the Hindu community. The development also comes at a time when the UP BJP is in the process of an organisational overhaul to tighten cadre discipline, bridge organisation-govt gaps and energise booth-level networks while preparing to take on the opposition. Earlier, Bhagwat visited Mathura on March 24 for the inauguration of the Jeevan Deep Ashram. He was then accompanied by Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav. Before that, the RSS chief visited Mathura for a seven-day visit on Jan 4 to preside over the RSS All India Executive Committee meeting in Keshav Dham. He has been critical of illegal immigration and asked people to keep a watch to identify intruders and report them to authorities. The remark was seen as significant against the backdrop of Assembly elections in West Bengal and Assam, where illegal migration has been a burning issue.
