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RSS joint general secretary Arun Kumar appointed to coordinate with BJP
Arun Kumar, who is from Delhi and earlier held the position of All India Prachar Pramukh, will replace Krishna Gopal.
Joint general secretary of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Arun Kumar, has been given charge of coordinating between the Sangh and its political arm, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), HT has learnt.
Arun Kumar, who is from Delhi and earlier held the position of All India Prachar Pramukh, will replace Krishna Gopal, also a joint general secretary who held the position since 2014.
Kumar also held the post of Prant Pracharak of Haryana and spent a considerable length of time in Jammu and Kashmir. He was instrumental in shaping a campaign to create awareness about article 370 that gave the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir its special status. The article was read down by Parliament in 2019.
According to a person aware of the details, the coordinator has a key role in monitoring the functioning of the BJP, and ensuring smooth coordination between the Sangh and the party.
The change comes ahead of the assembly elections in seven states, where the BJP is in power in six states, including Uttar Pradesh where the stakes are high for the party. Both the Sangh and the party are gearing to change the perception on the ground that the BJP government at the Centre and in the states were unprepared for the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Krishna Gopal will continue to remain in charge of two key Sangh offshoots, the Laghu Udyog Bharati - which deals with the MSME sector - and Vidya Bharati, which is entrusted with education.
The RSS has also deputed the Kshetra Pracharak of West Bengal, Pradeep Joshi as the Akhil Bharatiya Sah sampark pramukh.
“The RSS may also appoint a second joint general secretary organisation to assist BL Santhosh, the national general secretary (organisation),” said a person aware of the details.
At the three-day meeting of its prant pracharaka in Madhya Pradesh, the RSS has also decided to organise a special training programme for its workers to help them aid people and the administration in case of an outbreak of the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. The programme will have a special module to enable workers to provide help to mothers and children with necessary precautions said Sunil Ambekar, the all India Prachar Pramukh of the RSS, in a statement.
