Even as the BJP has seen its political fortunes rise dramatically in the two years — apart from two serious setbacks in Delhi and Bihar elections — its ideological mentor RSS also seems to have registered a quantum jump in the number of its ‘shakhas’ or branches.
RSS joint general secretary Krishna Gopal said here on Friday that the number of daily shakhas in the last one year had jumped by 5,524.
He said the number of branches — where RSS volunteers gather daily in the neighbourhood for morning exercises and ideological discourses in parks — at present is 56,859. Last year at the same time this number was 51,335.
The annual number of shakhas is reported at this time of each year when the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha, the highest decision making body of the Sangh, meets in some city of India.
The number of shakhas had increased by 10,413 between 2012 and 2015, and the acceleration has quickened in the last one year. This also happens to be a time when there has been considerable debate on tolerance in India and core Hindutva issues such as conversions, Ram temple, ‘love jihad’, etc.
Mr. Gopal also claimed that the largest number of shakhas were those attended by youngsters, seeking to dispel the impression that the young were not enamoured of the Sangh.
The number of shakhas of the Sangh was declining in the last decade but has picked up in recent years and is at a new high in recent years.
