The RSS has been spearheading initiatives to ensure the rule of law in Bengal in the aftermath of the Assembly polls, sources in the ideological fountainhead of the BJP said.

Sources said RSS activists had launched a silent drive to prevent post-poll violence, looting and the shifting of extortion rackets to another group.

RSS members and leaders have been keeping track of any information related to violence, including the capturing of Trinamool Congress offices or threats to and attacks on Opposition leaders and are immediately acting upon such activities with the help of police.

"We are actively working to prevent such acts. We are receiving many calls from different corners of the state, and our swayamsevaks have been preventing troubles by coordinating with the police. Our mission is to establish the rule of law and end the racket of violence and extortion in the state," said Jisnu Basu, the Sangh’s purba kshetra prachar pramukh.

"We are ready to provide legal support even to Trinamool leaders if they face violence. We want to prevent this practice, else another chapter of extortion and violence will emerge," added the senior RSS leader.

Basu himself prevented at least four such attempts after the election results were out.

"A club belonging to Trinamool leaders in Salt Lake was captured soon after the election results, as a group of people had put up BJP flags there. I personally went there, removed those flags, and freed the club," Basu said.

Multiple sources in the RSS said that not only in Calcutta, but also in several districts, the RSS had been keeping surveillance and taking up such issues with the state unit to ensure that there were no such moves.

After the change in power, a Trinamool leader from Barasat in North 24-Parganas contacted an RSS leader, informing him about an attack by alleged BJP workers.

"I personally contacted the local police and asked them to take immediate action. The senior police officer expressed surprise over why I had called him to save a corrupt Trinamool leader. He later ensured that there was only an agitation," the RSS leader said.

BJP leaders said that since the party’s victory, it had become their responsibility to stop violence and send a message across Bengal that not only the power structure but also the political culture of the state had changed.

The challenge became intense as, in many places, large numbers of Trinamool workers allegedly emerged carrying BJP flags to vandalise Trinamool offices, loot property, and take control of extortion rackets from existing groups.

BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya, chief minister Suvendu Adhikari, and other party leaders repeatedly said that Trinamool workers disguised as BJP supporters had carried out the attacks after the election results.

Bhattacharya also said that the police would take action if anyone was found extorting people in the name of the BJP.

"RSS is not directly involved in politics. So, it is easier for the outfit to get unbiased reports from the ground. BJP workers themselves were victims of post-poll violence in 2021. Therefore, it was not easy to stop them. But we somehow controlled it. Otherwise, there would have been a bloodbath," said a senior BJP leader.

Senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha member Rahul Sinha on Tuesday admitted that if the party had not prevented such attempts, there could have been large-scale violence against Trinamool workers.

"If we had not stopped our workers, 1,000 TMC workers could have been killed. We have suppressed the pain of losing over 300 party colleagues who were killed by the TMC. We did not want a repetition of such acts. We stopped them because at some point we had to stop the culture of violence and restore the peaceful political glory of the state," said Sinha.

Asked how the RSS prevented workers who had lost their loved ones from retaliating, Sinha said: "We assured them that no one would be spared and that punishment would be ensured under the rule of law. However, some forces, including the TMC, are now trying to create an atmosphere of riots. We want to send a stern message that such attempts will be dealt with strongly."