Uber cool Dudebros in the stand-up comedy circuit & English-speaking journalists often ridicule RSS' Panna Pramukhs as some uneducated lumpen cretins who have no job other than being judgemental to others.

I was like them too, once upon a time. How did my opinion [1/n]

evolve into today's ? It has been a personal journey, with new insights to my mind. So, let's start with a basic question.

Q1. How do most of us form opinion of an emerging politician ?
My bet : Print Media + News Channels, under the hegemony of a few 5-star editors [2/n]

who are bestowed with the power to decide : "How to project Mr/Mrs 'X' ?". Most of us consume that info & take it as the Gospel Truth & form our opinions.

During my schooldays, I was a regular newspaper reader, especially politics. I would mainly read : The Assam Tribune [3/n]

& Amar Axom.

Let me paint a synopsis of what Assam's politics was about, post Vajpayee's defeat in 2004. Assam, since 47, has been a traditional stronghold of Congress, with its CM-ship interspersed with 2 terms of AGP under Prafulla Mahanta & 1 year by Janata Party in 78.[4/n]

Unlike today's aggressive NDA-2, NDA-1 was the one which played by rules, & sacrificed the growth of its political space for its allies. In Assam, BJP was the younger brother to AGP, just like it was to SS in MH or Akalis in Punjab. But Tarun Gogoi, being a 10JP favourite, [5/n]

was trusted with Assam & to his credit, with his left & right hands : an ambitious Himanta & the shrewd Rockybull Hussain, he raided the cadres of AGP, especially ex-AASU youth leaders. AGP was on the wane, & so was BJP. So, in the subsequent 3 VS elections, Congress swept[6/n]

with AGP & BJP plummeting to lower abyss, finally to 2011 when AIUDF was the largest opposition party with 18 MLAs. That was the day, when people were alarmed what could be the future of Assam, because Ajmal & Tarun Gogoi r cordial friends & with no opposition in place, [7/n]

the future looked gloomy. Meanwhile, AGP was having its own factional wars, with Prafulla Mahanta ousted from its ranks. In these years, Sarbananda, who is admired by people of Assam because of how he led the legal battle to strike down IMDT act, suffered. His career was [8/n]

stuck, like that of a Wayne Rooney in David Moyes' United team or a Francesco Totti in a struggling Roma or a Gerrard in a beleagured Liverpool post Benitez's ouster & Suarez's sale.

Q2. Why is Sarbananda respected ? U will find many in Assam who hate Himanta & Delhi's [9/n]

interference in Assam but admire him.

Well, he was instrumental in striking down the IMDT Act.

Q3. What is IMDT Act ?

Unlike rest of India which has Foreigners Act, Assam had this IMDT [Illegal Migrants [Determination by Tribunal] Act], which was passed by Centre [10/n]

after Assam Agitation. When it was passed, the Parliament had no elected MPs from Assam & on top, it put the burden of proof on the local police to ensure that the arrested person is an illegal immigrant. Can u imagine how ridiculous is that?This act, in short, chained [11/n]

the Police & gave a free pass to illegal immigration. As a trained lawyer, Sarbananda took it to SC & got it struck down in 2005. His single-handed efforts earned him plaudits across Assam, but scorn & jealousy from his own party-men in AGP. [12/n]

Sorry for digressing from the pith issue, but coming back, we had a unique situation in Assam : A compromised Vidhan Sabha with both Govt & opposition (AIUDF) batting for illegal immigrants, regular land encroachment in bordering districts, frequent riots hushed down by a [13/n]

pliant media, open run to Xtian missionaries in Jorhat's tea-gardens & Bodoland, a police force with hands tied-down & internecine picayune rivalries in the Assamese society, like Xakta vs Vaishnav,Kamprupia vs Upper Axomiya,etc.

The anti-Congress undercurrent was evident[14/n]

in urban areas, with Congress facing some fight in Guwahati's municipalities from the lacklustre state BJP, but in rural areas, it was formidable & impenetrable, like a Maldini-Nesta defence of 2007's AC Milan. Who broke it ? The silent RSS cadres.

The BJP's growth in [15/n]

Assam is built on the goodwill generated by RSS workers. Media never covered until they won in 2016. But with floods being a regular "festival" in Assam, people in the rural areas witnessed it during the relief work. Am I exaggerating ? Well, one day, I fortuitously met a [16/n]

56-yr old doctor in one of our family functions in 2011. Political temperatures were high in Delhi, & so, we were discussing that. Then, for the 1st time, I heard about voluntary work done by RSS in remote districts, like running health camps or cheap Saraswati Sishu [17/n]

Niketan schools, Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas, UPSC/APSC coaching centres etc. He himself had been a part of RSS' medical camps. That fecund discussion was indeed a revelation into what RSS was all about.

I may be called names but a RSS Pracharak/Panna Pramukh is [18/n]

like a cockroach. Why cockroach? Cockroaches r the most misunderstood creatures, hated by everyone BUT they r the most resilient organisms on earth, who can acclimate to any extreme weather, be Sahara or the Himalayas & survive in hardships without food for a long time. [19/n]

RSS Pracharaks have this habit of socialising with any community. They'll pick up the language in 2 weeks, familiarise with the local customs & become the next good neighbour with a helping-hand.This habit gives them an edge over an average political cadre: the perspicacity[20/n]

and nuance into socio-political issues. Sarbananda's entry into BJP in 2014 has RSS imprints, for they got the missing piece of the Jigsaw in him: a bachelor with fierce oratory, loved across Assam. In short, he ticked all the boxes of Modi [].

What is BJP's advantage in[21/n]

today's politics? It is the vast network of Panna Pramukhs & Pracharaks, who r scorned by the English elites. And by that cockroach analogy, u can see how they changed BJP's fortunes in hostile states like WB.

Uddhav's pedantic myopia is not just evident from him wearing[22/n]

spectacles but by his decision to severe ties with the RSS. It's just not the BJP that is tired of Uddhav's shenanigans, but the RSS too. ShivSena & RSS had a hitherto cadre-transfer cordial relationship & with Uddhav deserting a proven cadre for the CMship, he has written[23/n]

his own political eulogy. Uddhav will never be a good politician because he fails the basic test of an erudite politician : farsightedness. So, in case of a future poll, we'll have a Sena without the RSS' reinforcements.

It reminds me of AC Milan letting Andrea Pirlo[24/n]

go on a free to Juventus in 2011. Today, Milan is out of CL,EL& languishing in mid-table with Juventus having won all Serie A titles since 2011.

Hate them, Like them; BUT don't underestimate the political brain of that polite austere RSS Pracharak in ur neigborhood.[25/25]