The core committee of the RSS will meet on Tuesday to decide the issue of bringing back P.P. Mukundan, former south India organisational secretary of the BJP into the party fold, ahead of the Assembly poll.
The meeting will be either at the Pranta Karyalaya, in Kochi or at the Vyasa Vidya Peedom in Palakkad, where the 20-day annual Officers Training Camp of the RSS began on Monday. This follows discussions held at the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha, the RSS’s highest decision-making body, at Nagaur in Rajasthan last month. It had deliberated on re-inducting Mr. Mukundan and had asked the State RSS leaders to ponder over the question.
Sources say that, RSS State Prantha Sanghachalak P.E.B. Menon held talks with Mr. Mukundan which, the sources said, turned out to be positive. When The Hindu contacted Mr. Mukundan on Monday, he admitted that there was a meeting with Mr. Menon, but refused to disclose details, saying it was an internal affair of the Sangh.
The sources say that RSS leaders, including newly appointed South Zone Pracharak Pramukh P.R. Sasidharan, and Prantha Pracharak P.N. Harikrishnakumar, favoured his return. However, another lobby led by south zone Karyavah A.R. Mohanan is opposed to giving him any assignment in the State politics, even as the BJP Central unit wants Mr. Mukundan to be nominated to the national executive of the party. The Central leadership feels that keeping out Mr. Mukundan, who enjoys support of different Hindu organisations and other Christian denominations, may damage the prospects of the BJP in the Assembly polls.
The possible re-entry of Mr. Mukundan, unceremoniously made to leave as the South India organisational secretary of the BJP in 2006, had gained traction ever since Mr. Modi became the Prime Minister.
