RSS set to appoint younger leaders in a bid to attract the youth

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, February 19, 2015: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is all set to get younger. Come March and the Sangh will choose its new executives, who are likely to be much younger than the current lot. According to top sources in the outfit, the Sangh will have a new general secretary and Dattatreya Hosabale is the frontrunner in the race. Known to be close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, top pick Hosabale could well usher in a new approach in the Sangh. In case he is chosen as the general secretary, Hosabale will replace Bhaiyyaji Joshi whose term ends in March.

A post-graduate in English literature, Hosabale is currently a joint general secretary in the Sangh along with Suresh Soni and Krishna Gopal. Once Hosabale is elevated to the post of general secretary, S. Ranjan will become the joint general secretary of the Sangh. Ranjan is currently responsible as Sangh’s Bihar in-charge.

Over the years Hosabale has risen from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). He was the organising secretary in the students’ outfit. According to observers, Hosabale’s elevation within the Sangh will ensure that there is better coordination between RSS and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Several key figures in the BJP have been once part of the ABVP, and this is likely to help Hosabale in his dealings with the ruling party at the Centre. Top sources in the Sangh said that with his progressive views, Hosabale will not only bring about an image makeover of RSS, but will help in its overall expansion.
 
"In the last two years, we witnessed massive response from the people. In 2012 about 1,000 people used to become part of RSS through the online initiative ’Join RSS’. In 2013, the number rose to 2,500, and now about 7,000 people join us each month," a top RSS ideologue told MAIL TODAY. "Youngsters in particular are joining the outfit, and this must continue. There are about 45,000 RSS shakhas across the country. Our aim is to set up about 4,500 shakhas every year. For that the organisation has put in place an elaborate network of volunteers, in both rural and urban areas, who are approaching people to inform about the Sangh’s ideology," he added.

With that aim in mind, and with Hosabale as its general secretary, the Sangh will reach out to the younger generation and farmers. Across the professional spectrum, youngsters will be exhorted to join the Sangh, Sangh sources added.

While the BJP has gained immensely under Prime Minister Modi, Sangh ideologues feel that the party’s growth momentum needs to be given a boost. Considering that both Bihar and Uttar Pradesh will go for Assembly elections, it is necessary that there is better coordination between the Sangh and BJP, they said. And for that a young and energetic Hosabale will be the best choice for the Sangh.

A protégé of the late H.V. Seshadri, who was an RSS general secretary, Hosabale was once tasked with making the Sangh’s ideology popular in Europe. He was ably assisted in this by London-based Ram Vaidya. Both of them made Sangh more visible in the foreign shores. Now Hosabale will have a task cut out in India.