Hindu group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). (Express Photo By Amit Mehra/representational photo) Hindu group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). (Express Photo By Amit Mehra/representational photo)

Close to 7000 new members were added to the ranks of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) in Kerala in the past one year, registering a growth of nearly 7 per cent in membership, said RSS Pranth Karyavah P Gopalankutty. A substantial section of young members was added through the ‘Join RSS’ campaign online, he added.

“We have around 1.75 lakh active workers in the state now who take part at least once a week in shakha activities of the Sangh,” he said.

In the state, the Sangh currently holds 4,105 daily shakhas in 3,000 places. With 56 mandals added in the past one year, 1,426 out of 1,503 mandals are now active with RSS programmes, he said. The Sangh’s objectives for the next three years in the state were finalised at the recently concluded Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS). Dr R. Vanniyarajan, a retired college principal, was recently elected as the sanghchalak of the dakshina kshetra (southern region) comprising the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

The RSS’s efforts to conduct more shakhas are stonewalled mainly in Communist strongholds like rural areas of Kannur and Payyanur, said Gopalankutty. “There have been several instances where our workers are not even permitted in these areas, let alone conduct activities. They (CPM) physically assault our workers,” he complained. “CPM’s intolerance is blocking Sangh activities in the state. They don’t accept the right to dissent,” he added.

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