From Hedgewar to Mohan Bhagwat: 100 years, 6 RSS sarsanghchalaks and their vision

Consolidation of the Hindu society and character building of people have been among core values around which the RSS has revolved since 1925, but its sarsanghchalaks, who came from diverse fields, have left a lasting impact on the outfit with their own style of functioning.

Founded on the occasion of Dussehra (September 27) in 1925 in Nagpur by Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, a physician from Maharashtra, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) started out small with one 'shakha' (branch) and evolved over the years to become a vast organisation.

Each of the six ' sarsanghchalak', or chief, of the RSS, over the last 100 years, ushered in changes in the organisation's approach in dealing with a multitude of issues and sought to keep pace with changing times, according to Sangh watcher and journalist Sudhir Pathak.

Though Hedgewar founded the RSS in 1925, his name as the sarsanghchalak was announced four years later on November 10, 1929. Once an office-bearer of the Congress, Hedgewar took part in a party conference held in Nagpur in 1920 before charting out his own independent course.

He was jailed for participating in 'Jungle Satyagraha' in 1930 and Dr LV Paranjpe was the sarsanghchalak for a brief time when Hedgewar was in prison.

Hedgewar formed the RSS along with 17 others and it started out from his residence 'Hedgewar Wada' in New Shukrawari area in Mahal in Nagpur. The organisation's formal name was decided a few months later at a meeting attended by 26 members.

The members suggested different names for the organisation and three of them -- the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Jaripatka Mandal and Bhartodwarak Mandal -- were finalised. After deliberations, the name RSS received 20 votes, Jaripatka Mandal five and Bhartodwarak Mandal one. Accordingly, the organisation got the name Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

Talking to PTI, Pathak, former editor of RSS-affiliated newspaper 'Tarun Bharat', said the initial 'shakha' gatherings used to take place in a ground in front of Itwar Darwaza School in Nagpur. As the number of swayamsevaks (volunteers) increased, the gatherings started taking place in 'Mohite Wada' in Nagpur.

The first 'shakha' outside Nagpur was started in Wardha on February 18, 1926. Today, the RSS has more than 83,000 'shakhas' with lakhs of swayamsevaks.

Shakha is the basic unit of the RSS where volunteers meet to take part in activities such as community service and physical exercise.

Hedgewar's attended his last RSS meeting in Sindi in Wardha district in 1939 which was Officers Training Camp (OTC), wherein three important decisions regarding the outfit were taken.

Pathak said firstly the RSS prayer -- 'Namaste Sada Vatsale Matrubhume -- which earlier had only two stanzas was made into a full new prayer written by NN Bhide a schoolteacher. Secondly, a decision was taken to have a new uniform for swayamsevaks. Thirdly, it was decided that RSS orders will be issued in Sanskrit instead of English.

Hedgewar passed away on June 21, 1940, but before his death he appointed Madhavrao Sadashiv Golwalkar (34), popularly known as 'Guruji', as the new sarsanghchalak.

Golwalkar was instrumental in shaping the RSS for the next three decades and bringing it from the setbacks of the first ban on the organisation.

Pathak said Golwalkar died in 1973, but before that he had written four letters and in one of them, he had declared the name of his successor Balasaheb Deoras, who helmed the Sangh during the Emergency years (1975-77).

The Emergency was the first major challenge before Deoras, when all 'shakhas' were shut, and he was arrested and sent to Yerwada Central Jail in Poona (now Pune).

According to Pathak, when the Emergency was lifted and Deoras came out of jail, he took the approach of 'forget and forgive'.

Asked about the Emergency, Deoras said, "We must adopt the policy of forget and forgive. The Emergency should not have imposed, but it does not mean we will be against them." He positioned himself in the mould of a social reformer and vehemently opposed caste discrimination and untouchability.

"If untouchability is not wrong, nothing else is wrong in the world," he famously declared and added "We all are one and are Hindus." Pathak noted that Deoras brought backward classes and underprivileged people on board to broaden the base and appeal of the RSS.

Pathak said an ailing Deoras broke decades-long tradition and announced that Prof Rajendra Singh, popularly called Rajju Bhaiya, would succeed him. This was the first time in the RSS history that the sarsanghachalak announced a successor when alive.

Pathak said Singh, who served as the sarsanghchalak between 1994 and 2000, was an astrophysicist and a professor in the Allahabad University. He was the first non-Maharashtrian RSS chief.

He was succeeded by KS Sudarshan, an electronics engineer.

Under Sudarshan, more sections of society aligned themselves with the RSS. Sudarshan reached out to Muslims, held interactions with them and invited them to the RSS headquarters, Pathak noted.

Likewise, he held interactions with Christians as well, he said.

Current sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat, who is seen as a moderniser, expanded RSS outreach and held lecture series in Delhi, where he invited people from all walks of life.

On Bhagwat's 75th birthday last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised him for his intellectual depth and empathetic leadership, and declared his tenure as the RSS head since 2009 will be considered the most transformative period in the organisation's 100-year journey.