The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS) executive council meeting that will begin in Indore in November will put into effect changes that are being made to the structure of the Sangh, take stock of the organisation’s centenary celebrations and deliberate on the current political and social issues, including the Opposition’s sharpened attacks on the Centre over the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR), people aware of the details said.
The three-day meeting, known as the Akhil Bharatiya Karyakari Mandal (ABKM), begins on November 2. It is held every year, but its agenda carries extra significance this time because it comes four months before the organisational elections at the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS) in March next year. The ABPS is the highest decision making body of the Sangh and elections are held every three years.
“We will take stock of the centenary celebrations and the impact of the outreach that was planned. But since this meeting comes ahead of the ABPS and the elections for picking the new Sarkaryavah (general secretary), the meeting will roll out the new organisational structure of replacing prants with sambhags (division),” a functionary said.
In a bid to maximise reach and increase the boots on the ground, the Sangh is replacing prant pracharaks with sambhag (division) pracharaks. The new structure will increase the number of pracharaks from 46 to 85 but the kendras (state level) will come down from 11 to nine.
Following the meeting in November, the state units will elect new karyakarnis (executive body at the state level), the Sambhag sangachalak (division head), and the kshetra sangachalaks, who in turn will elect the new general secretary. The last election took place in 2024, when the incumbent Dattatreya Hosabale was elected for a second term.
Each term is of three years and there is no bar on the number of terms an individual can get.
The Sangh brass will also deliberate on the current political and policy issues such as the controversy surrounding the SIR and the Election Commission and concerns over the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) that have a wider resonance on the ground.
The Sangh has, at periodic intervals, called for a uniform population policy and identifying illegal citizens.
On Tuesday, head of the Sangh’s outreach Sunil Ambekar reiterated the need for UCC and a mechanism such as the National Register of Citizens to identify illegal residents.
Speaking at an event in the Capital, he said that there cannot be a law that allows one section to marry up to four times and prosecute another set for the same.
Amid the row over SIR, Ambekar said if there are some people found on the electoral rolls in violation of the norms, there should be a legally sound policy to take action and rectify the anomalies.
“In a democracy, there are avenues for seeking recourse against injustices…but if there are wrong people on the electoral list, it is wrong to accept them as citizens of this country for anyone’s political benefit,” he said.
The comment comes in the wake of grievances from voters about the processes being followed for conducting SIR and the Opposition’s accusations that the Election Commission is influenced by the Union government.