One thousand five hundred delegates from across India will be huddled in Nagpur over the next three days for a meeting of the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha, the highest decision-making body of the Sangh.
The organisation will conduct elections for its general secretary or Sarkaryvaha — done once in three years. The general secretary, in turn, will appoint his team, including three or four joint general secretaries or Sahkaryavahas , and more than 20 executive committee members.
There has been buzz that this election may see present Sarkaryavaha Suresh (Bhaiyyaji) Joshi bow out and the mantle being passed on to Dattatreya Hosabale. Mr. Joshi has been unwell in recent years, and has undergo operations in both his knees, sources say. However, he is well on the path to recovery now.
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Contenders unlikely
The election procedure of the RSS general secretary entails resignation of the general secretary and the appointment of an election in-charge, who calls for nominations from the delegates. A name proposed by a delegate must be endorsed by three others.
The proposed name is finalised after the formality of seeking to know if there are any other names. However, as per RSS convention, there is no other name and the consensus candidate is declared elected.
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The three-day meet will also see the affiliated organisations of the RSS —including its political affiliate, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — make short presentations of the work done by them in the last year.
Shah to attend
BJP president Amit Shah and party leader Ram Madhav, who was sent to the party from the RSS, will be present at the meeting, RSS national spokesperson Manmohan Vaidya told journalists.
Mr. Vaidya said the meet would also discuss the RSS’ expansion and brainstorm on measures to continue the process. He said the RSS was witnessing immense interest from urban professionals, including NRIs, to associate with the Sangh.
In 2017, as many as 1.25 lakh people got in touch with the Sangh through its online ‘Join RSS’ initiative. This number was about 28,000 in 2013. Mr. Vaidya said this was a result of people getting interested in Indian culture and having a desire to know about their roots better.