RSS annual general body meeting begins with tributes to political leaders

New Delhi: The three-day annual general body meeting of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) began on Sunday in Panipat, Haryana, with tributes being paid to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mother Hiraben, late Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, socialist leader Sharad Yadav, senior advocate Shanti Bhushan and actor Satish Kaushik, among other political leaders and key personalities who had died in the past one year. During this meeting, that was attended by the RSS top brass along with the heads of various organisations associated with the Sangh, a discussion on increasing the participation of women in social awareness programmes of the RSS will also be taken up. The Sangh has a separate wing -- Rashtriya Sevika Samiti -- for its women cadre.

The Sangh also paid tribute to late BJD leader and Odisha minister Nabakishore Das, who was killed by a police officer recently, and BJP leaders Sagar Sahu and Budhram Kartam from Chhattisgarh, who were “martyred in Naxalite violence”. Sangh functionaries also paid homage to industrialists Jamshed J. Irani and Vikram Kirloskar.

The RSS top brass will also take stock of the work done by the Sangh and its affiliates in the last one year, and also decide on its course of action for the coming one year.

A resolution to mark the completion of 75 years of India’s Independence while emphasising on self-reliance will also be moved during the meeting.

“Our aim is to increase the number of daily shakhas to one lakh by next year,” said RSS joint general secretary Manmohan Vaidya while addressing the media. Around 60 per cent of those attending the shakhas are students while the rest are professionals, entrepreneurs and employees, he said.

Mr Vaidya also added that 7.25 lakh youth had made a request to join the RSS through its website in the 2017-2022 period.