RSS favourite and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday led the BJP’s first list of 99 candidates for the November 20 Maharashtra elections, amid a huge outreach campaign on the ground by the Sangh to turn the tide in favour of the saffron camp.

After the BJP’s spectacular victory in Haryana earlier this month that befuddled pollsters, the RSS has now hurled itself into the Maharashtra campaign to transform the palpable anti-BJP mood on the ground, sources said. Internally, a turnaround in the BJP’s fortunes in Haryana has been credited to a great extent to the diligent work by RSS cadres.

Against the backdrop of this push by the RSS, the BJP’s first list of 99 candidates was released on Sunday with the name of Fadnavis on the top. The deputy chief minister, known to be a favourite of the RSS, was fielded from the Nagpur West seat which he has represented since 2009. Nagpur, a BJP stronghold, is also where the headquarters of the RSS is located.

The BJP’s first list showed no signs of any risks with most of the sitting candidates being repeated. Of the 99 nominees, only 5 are new faces with family members of key state leaders getting rewarded. Sreejaya Chavan, the daughter of Congress turncoat and former chief minister Ashok Chavan, is among those fielded. The BJP is likely to contest some 160 of the 288 Assembly seats, while allies Shiv Sena (Shinde) and NCP (Ajit Pawar) fielding candidates in the rest.

The RSS, insiders said, has activated cadres of several outfits affiliated to the parent body to reach out to voters to understand key issues and shape opinion in favour of the BJP. The RSS’s push has been aimed at strengthening the position of Fadnavis, who finds himself at the receiving end after the BJP’s dismal show in the Lok Sabha polls.

“Our cadres have been trained with talking points in coordination with the BJP. They are going out in small groups to meet voters and convince them why a Mahayuti government is in the interest of the state,” an RSS leader said.

This RSS leader acknowledged that the popular mood on the ground was still against the incumbent Mahayuti government led by Shiv Sena’s Eknath Shinde, but at the same time expressed confidence that micromanagement can turn the tide.

Many in the BJP feel that the results of the Maharashtra polls would reflect the impact of the RSS’s bid to back the party with full force. The relations between the BJP and the RSS had got strained during the Lok Sabha polls. After the BJP’s short-of-majority tally in the general election, the leadership of the BJP and the RSS have held several rounds of coordination meetings to re-establish synergy.

The RSS’s helping hand in Maharashtra has come after a mood of imminent defeat had set in the ruling alliance because of the dismal performance in the Lok Sabha polls. The Mahayuti could win just 17 of the state’s 48 Lok Sabha seats with the BJP’s individual tally dipping to an all-time low of 9. Allies Shiv Sena and NCP picked up 7 and 1 seat, respectively.

BJP and RSS managers who are coordinating closely feel that taking inspiration from the Haryana results can turn the situation in their favour. “If we extrapolate the Lok Sabha results, the situation is not as bad as is being projected. The Mahayuti won in 125 Assembly segments while the Maha Vikas Aghadi (the Opposition) in 153,” a BJP leader said. “With hard work and micromanagement, we can easily win 25-30 more Assembly segments,” the leader added.