At the press conference in Kolkata on Monday. (Express photo/Partha Paul) At the press conference in Kolkata on Monday. (Express photo/Partha Paul)

Online applications to join the RSS increased nearly five-fold since June 7 when former president Pranab Mukherjee delivered a speech at its Nagpur headquarters, and around 40 per cent of these applications were from West Bengal, claimed Sangh leaders on Monday.

“On June 6, online applications received were 378. On June 7, it rose to 1,779. Thereafter, on an average we are getting around 1,200-1,300 applications daily. About 40 per cent of these applications are from Bengal,” said Biplab Roy, RSS Prachar Pramukh (spokesperson), South Bengal.

Mukherjee had delivered a speech at RSS’s Tritiya Varsh Training Programme.

“He is a former president and an experienced and popular politician. There was enthusiasm surrounding his visit to Nagpur in the media. It was likely that his visit would draw immediate attention of many towards the RSS, who filed online applications. His presence is one of the reasons. However, we feel that it is RSS’s 92 years of work for the country which is drawing the people towards the organisation,” said Roy.

“It is indeed a privilege to have a former president and veteran politician to speak at our meet. We are thankful to him. Many of the online applications are from Bengal. As far as I know after Karnataka, Bengal is the second in terms of applications to join the organisation. Democracy is being killed in Bengal and fundamentalism is on the rise here,” said Jishnu Basu, RSS general secretary, South Bengal.

“Pranab Mukherjee’s presence is one of the reasons behind the increase in online applications, but it is not the only reason. Earlier many like former president Late APJ Abdul Kalam spoke at RSS meets,” said Rantideb Sengupta, a former journalist associated with the RSS.

‘Join RSS’ is a page on the RSS website for membership where an individual has to fill up a form and furnish mandatory details such as name, contact numbers, email and district, among others. According to RSS leaders, after online applications are received through its ‘Join RSS’ section, interested individuals are called at various districts. Then they are shown the works done in various fields the RSS is connected to and their functions.

RSS leaders said at present there are over 1,600 daily shakhas, compared to 1,250 last year. During the press meet, RSS leaders highlighted a statement by Manmohan Vaidya, joint general secretary of RSS, and said there need not be unnecessary controversy over Mukherjee’s visit as stalwarts from different fields have spoken at RSS meets.

“Both Pranab Mukherjee and Mohan Bhagwat (RSS chief) spoke about preserving our diverse cultures. Both spoke of the 5,000-year-old heritage. Both spoke about tolerance. There should not be any controversy surrounding Pranab Mukherjee’s visit,” said Sengupta.

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