RSS's first big meeting after Lok Sabha polls: Why no election of Sangh president, can Muslims become volunteers?

The first big meeting of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS is being held in Palakkad, Kerala after the results of the Lok Sabha elections. Around 320 representatives of 32 RSS-affiliated organizations are participating in the all-India coordination meeting, which will last till September 2. How RSS works, why RSS president is not elected, which organizations are associated with it, let's know… On June 20, 1940, RSS president Keshav Baliram Hedgewar handed over a note to Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar aka Guruji. The note read – 'Before you hand over my body to the doctors, I want to tell you that from now on you will be fully responsible for running the institution.' On July 3, 1940, when Hedgewar's letter was read out at a meeting of senior Union leaders, people were shocked. Most people hoped that Hedgewar would hand over the command of the Sangh to Appaji Joshi. At that time Appaji was considered Hedgewar's right-hand man in the organization, but Hedgewar shocked everyone by making the 34-year-old professor a Sangh Pramakh. About 23 years later, on June 5, 1973, a sealed cover was opened at a workers' meeting after Guru Golwalkar's death. In the cover it was written – 'After me, Balasaheb Devaras should be made Sarsangchalak.' Thus, it became a tradition in the RSS that the Sangh President would decide the name of the next Sangh President. In 2018, Sangh President Mohan Bhagwat said- 'Who will become Sarsangchalak after me, it is up to me and how long I will be Sarsangchalak is also up to me.'

Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).