Kerala's Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) unit has decided to expand its chain of supermarkets under the Akshayashree Mission after traders shut their shops and businesses wherever the BJP tried to hold meetings in the State to explain the CAA legislation in January, according to an Indian Express report.
After the Citizenship Amendment Act was passed in January, the BJP held numerous meetings, especially in muslim-dominated areas of the State to explain the legislation. This move, however, was not well-received. Towns and junctions where the meetings were supposed to be held were lardely deserted on the day of the meetings. Traders and shopkeepers too shut down their shops and businesses, the publication said.
To counter this reaction, the Sangh Parivar decided to increase the number of its supermarkets in the Left-ruled state.
The Akshayashree Mission—the Sangh Parivar’s co-operative—started six years ago and had 24 supermarket outlets, named Samrudhi, till last year. After the CAA protests, 10 more supermarkets have been opened and 40 additional stores have been registered.
“There were already a few stores under the Akshayasree Mission; the new ones have been opened as a response to the boycott of the BJP’s pro-CAA campaign. These outlets have been launched spontaneously by workers wherever they were boycotted,” the state general secretary of the Hindu Aikya Vedi, the Kerala unit of the Sangh Parivar told the publication.
While the supermarkets are limited to selling groceries and vegetables for now, the state general secretary of Sahakar Bharati, Aji Kumar, told the news outlet that the RSS is looking to expand its reach. Several self-help groups under the Akshayashree Mission are currently into food processing and making incense sticks which will be sold in the supermarkets. The organisation is planning to pursue textiles and restaurants next, he added.
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