The RSS is proud of its ‘son’ Suvendu Adhikari, he does not need to sign the membership form to be part of the family, just like a daughter-in-law joining a family – this is how the Sangh views a group of leaders who join the BJP from other parties and become prime ministers.
“Not everyone necessarily joins the RSS only when they are school children. There are many who join the RSS at a later age,” Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale told PTI in an exclusive interview.
He was asked about leaders like Adhikari, Samrat Chaudhary and Himanta Biswa Sarma who became prime ministers despite coming to the BJP from other parties.
Asked whether the trend bothers the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or is it happy that more people are joining its ranks, the Sangh chief functionary said: “We are happy. The BJP is growing. This means it is becoming accepted.”
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He added that the new leaders will also gradually understand the RSS movement.
Asked whether he would encourage new entrants to the BJP to join the RSS as well, Hosabale said they are already as good as they are in the RSS as they belong to the ideological family of the RSS.
“There is no formal membership in the RSS. I have not even taken an official membership. The RSS is something like a family setup. That is why everyone who enters the family becomes a part of it.
He said: “A daughter-in-law who joins a family does not need to fill out a form; she naturally becomes one of the family members.”
Asked if the new West Bengal Chief Minister Adhikari would be more like his son-in-law, Hosabale said: “We are proud of this son.”
Asked about the role played by the Rashtriya Swayamsevaks and its outfit in the BJP’s victory in West Bengal, he said: “As citizens, they (swayamsevaks) did everything.”
“Our swayamsevaks have been at the receiving end for a long time in West Bengal — earlier during the communist regime and then the TMC regime.
“Just because they were talking about Sanatana Hindu, conducting shakhas, creating a patriotic national people, they were attacked by the government or people supported by the government there,” he said.
Hosabale said that this struggle was not only on the part of the swayamsevaks, but on the part of the entire Hindu community. “That is why every Hindu voter became a Hindu worker in Bengal. That is why it was a matter of civilization,” he said.
The results are available to everyone, Hosabale said, noting, “It was a tsunami… because when you are pushed against the wall, you will fight back.”
Hosabale said Swayamsevak members had done their bit for people’s security even in the past, including during the post-election violence five years ago.
“I personally visited two or three places… We are not an army. We do this out of our love for the community and for the spirit of community service,” he said.
“Our people have also mobilized other like-minded people, who want to do something. We are trying to provide safety and security to people who are suffering wherever it happens, including some people who may not be members of our organisation, who may not even be Hindus. It may also happen quite often,” he said.
