PATNA: As the NDA vs Nitish-Lalu fight in Bihar sharpens, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has decided to step up its help to BJP — by deploying pracharaks who have been instructed to frame the election as a matter of 'Hindu self-esteem'.A BJP defeat, Sangh cadres are telling voters in Bihar, will be a blow to this self-esteem. And only a vote for BJP will keep Hindus ‘safe’, say RSS campaigners. The campaign is focusing mainly on dalits.In a meeting held late Sunday evening between senior RSS leaders Krishna Gopal and Dattatreya Hosbale and 70 Sangh seniors, the strategy on framing Bihar elections as a "Hindu swabhimaan ka chunav"(an election for Hindu self-esteem) was given concrete shape.ET spoke to a number of people familiar with this strategy. Some spoke on record while others did not wish to be identified."We are telling people that for the first time a kanya pujan was held during Navratri in government buildings this year and that Gita is being read and celebrated everywhere. This is the first time our country is holding its head high in the world. A defeat in Bihar will destroy this self-respect," said Subedar Singh, head of Dharm Jagran Manch in Patna.Singh is now campaigning in Bihar’s Seemanchal area. Singh’s duty for the polls is to ensure proper coordination and communication among RSS and BJP workers in Katihar, Purnia and Kishanganj. Pracharaks’ door-to-door campaigning includes telling people about what Sangh describes as "five different kinds of Muslims" – Suryavanshi, Parchaiyya, Bangladeshi, Deshi and Shias. "We are telling Hindus that some Muslims such as the Deshi and Suryavanshi are not aggressive. Their living style is similar to ours. Their women wear sarees. But those from western UP and other parts (parchaiyya) or Bangladeshis have done harm to the country before. The point is to make Hindus vote for the BJP that will keep them safe in the country," said a pracharak who did not wish to be named.BJP workers and RSS swayamsevaks in their door-to-door campaigns in Bihar are largely focussing on dalit households to make their point. The campaign, however, is often running into the reality of close social and economic ties between dalit Hindus and poor Muslims in some areas. JD(U) strategists ET spoke to insisted that ‘Hindu mobilisation’ through dalits "wouldn’t happen". "BJP needs a strong OBC group for this, but that they don’t have," a JD(U) leader who did not want to be identified said.The Sangh’s campaign on Hindu ‘self-esteem’ is using what RSS strategists think is a potent gesture – in Siwan, Kishanganj, for example, Sangh leaders are asking voters to swear by the cow that they will vote for BJP. BR Ambedkar is the other Sangh pitch – in areas like Rajgir, Phulwari and Masaurhi, RSS campaigners are consistently talking about the Sangh’s efforts to popularise Ambedkar. Groups of RSS campaigners, armed with photos of Ambedkar, insist on sharing some food – usually misri (crystallised sugar lumps) – with members of a dalit household, and tell household members the Sangh doesn’t believe in caste discrimination."When they tell us they have been most harassed by upper caste people, we remind them how it was during the jungle raj and that if they let them come to power again, no one can help them. The police will completely be in their control," said Ajay Kumar, a pracharak, campaigning in Champaran. RSS campaigners are also co-opting Nitish Kumar – saying good work during Kumar’s chief ministership was thanks to his then ally BJP holding portfolios such as public works, finance and urban development. "There is nothing wrong with Nitish Kumar except that he joined hands with Lalu. His governance was good but people should know that the best of it came out when he was with BJP and development in Bihar has stagnated since he left us," says Satish Rai, a pracharak on campaign trail.There are 1,200 RSS shakhas across Bihar. Five swayamsevaks from each shakha have been given poll responsibility.ET View: Don't digress from the task at handAll political parties and their associates indulge in some form of voter-profiling or the other. This usually takes the shape of targeted messaging of policies aimed at groups of voters. So the RSS highlighting the BJP’s role in ensuring good governance under Nitish Kumar, or reaching out to Dalit voters is understandable. However, the RSS does the BJP no favour by linking Muslims and their alleged 'propensity for terrorism' in an effort to rally Hindu voters. The RSS is undermining the message that the PM has sought to highlight: the real enemy is poverty.