Expansionist RSS eyes control over NDA government
In his speech, Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi summed up Sangh's plans in three broad points viz. "Education through Mathrubhasha"; the Inclusive Hinduism through "One temple, one water reservoir and one cemetery for all in every village", and "Wide expansion of Sangh work to all possible areas".
A day after the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) re-elected Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi as sarkaryawah for the third consecutive three-year term, it is all set to start work on expanding its support base and maximising control over the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre.
This is the message that appears to be coming from the Sangh's three-day conclave - the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha in Nagpur - that concluded on Sunday.
In his concluding speech, Joshi summed up Sangh's plans in three broad points viz. "Education through Mathrubhasha"; the Inclusive Hinduism through "One temple, one water reservoir and one cemetery for all in every village", and "Wide expansion of Sangh work to all possible areas".
Joshi also announced the Sangh's unflinching support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi by backing his recent decisions. His re-election as sarkaryawah, despite strong rumours in favour of joint general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale -known to be close to Modi -is a clear message that Sangh is trying to maximise its influence on the BJP.
Until 2012, Joshi used to keep away from any overt involvement in the BJP's activities while maintaining the Sangh had "its own cultural and development agenda" and BJP was only one of the organisations linked to it.
However, he was assigned bigger control vis-a vis Sangh's relations with the BJP after the RSS annual meet in Chennai that year. Currently, three members - Joshi, Hosabale and joint general secretary Suresh Soni - liaison with the BJP. Sources said the Sangh decided against replacing Joshi with Hosabale, as it "did not want to risk its hold on BJP".
Joshi has said that he wishes to immediately begin work on Sangh's plan to expand its reach "to all the 6.5 lakh villages in India". RSS spokesperson Manmohan Vaidya said: "?to succeed in our endeavour, we will have to drive out even the smallest of the remnants of our caste-based, regional and linguistic egos which breed prejudices".
Meanwhile, the Sangh has made minor changes in its organisational structure. It appointed V. Bhaigaih as its fourth sahsarakaryavah (Joint General Secretary), the other three are Hosabale, Dr Krishna Gopal and Suresh Soni.
Veteran Sangh functionary V. Nagaraj has been elected chief of the RSS' South Central Zone comprising Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.