The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s crucial three-day Pratinidhi Sabha (executive council) in Nagpur from March 20 will precede changes it intends to effect in its 32 affiliate organisations, of which six are mass-based.
Some full-timers may be sent to the organisations with crucial responsibilities, insiders say. The change will first come down the ladder at the regional level, and then the national level.
The RSS holds the sabha every March, when full-time volunteers, executive heads and representatives of its affiliates discuss and share their work and regional situations.
Every three years, the meet is held in Nagpur, where the Sangh elects an executive body headed by the general secretary, the Sangh’s organizational head. Dr Mohan Bhagwat, the current general secretary, will be re-elected this time.
The conclave is significant on two counts: One, general elections are due in a month and RSS leaders are taking stock of the political situation. Two, its disappointment with the Bharatiya Janata Party brass is apparently growing stronger. The Sangh feels the party is neither expanding its political base nor achieving political objectives without the support of cadres of the parent body.
The sabha will take a long-term view of the economic and political situations rather than short-term projections, insiders say. The RSS believes neither BJP nor Congress-led coalitions can get a majority in Parliament in 2009, and the incumbent government may not be able to complete its term. In that case, the Sangh will set an agenda by 2009-end or early 2010 for the Parivar organisations to steer it further. It will be a nation-wide campaign designed and monitored by the Sangh.
