New Delhi: Dattatreya Hosabale is likely to be re-elected as the sarkaryavah or general secretary of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) at the annual meeting of its apex decision-making body, the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS), to be held in Nagpur from 15 to 17 March, ThePrint has learnt.
The Sangh’s programme and agenda for the year will be decided at the meeting.
The ABPS includes representatives from 45 prants (divisions) and various frontal organisations of the RSS, and key resolutions are passed at its meeting. It holds elections for the second-in-command of the RSS triennially at the Nagpur headquarters.
Hosabale was elected general secretary at the ABPS meeting held in Bengaluru in 2021.
“It is a normal process wherein after three years, elections are held for the post of sarkaryavah. Around 1,400 Sangh functionaries and leaders will attend the meeting. Elections for this post are generally held in Nagpur but took place in Bengaluru in 2021 due to the Covid pandemic,” an RSS functionary told ThePrint.
The post of the general secretary is the second-highest executive post in the RSS after the post of sarsanghchalak, currently held by Mohan Bhagwat.
According to a source, Hosabale is likely to be re-elected general secretary.
Aged 69, Hosabale hails from Soraba in Karnataka’s Shivamogga. He holds a postgraduate degree in English.
“He worked in Assam and was quite instrumental in setting up the Youth Development Centre in Guwahati that also helped the RSS expand its base in the northeast,” the functionary said.
Hosabale joined the RSS in 1968 and worked in its student affiliate, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), from 1972 onwards. In 1978, he became a full-time pracharak and was given several responsibilities in the ABVP.
In December 1992, he was given the position of sangathan mantri (general secretary, organisation) of the ABVP.
In 2003, he became the RSS’s akhil bharatiya sah bauddhik pramukh (in charge of intellectual training) and the sah sarkaryavah of the Sangh in 2009, in which role he continued till 19 March, 2021.
According to BJP sources, Hosabale is close to both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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