PRAYAGRAJ: In a break from the usual, tributes were paid to Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav on the opening day of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s four-day national executive board meeting which began in Prayagraj on Sunday.
Several top office-bearers of the organisation, including RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale and others participated in the meeting.
Over 300 office-bearers, including sanghchalak, karyawah, pracharak and workers from all 11 regions (kshetra) and 45 provinces (prant) were also present in the meeting. General secretary Dattatreya Hosabale welcomed all dignitaries.
Tributes were also paid to personalities who passed away in the past few days, including Dwarkapeeth Shankaracharya Swami Swaroopanand, Panch peethadheeshwar Acharya Dharmendra ji, former chief justice RC Lahoti, comedian Raju Srivastava, industrialist Cyrus Mistry and noted archaeologist BB Lal. Notably, in December last year, a picture of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat with SP founder MSY sitting together at a function had created political ripples. The picture was tweeted by BJP leader and Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal who was seeking Bhagwat’s blessings as MSY wearing the traditional SP red cap looked on. The SP has been a bitter opponent of the BJP and RSS.
Paying rich tributes to MSY on his demise last week, PM Narendra Modi had called him a “key soldier for democracy during the Emergency”. “Setting aside political differences, Mulayam Singh ji had told the Lok Sabha that Modi was someone who takes everyone along and that he was sure he would again become the PM,” Modi had said.
The meeting, which will have four to five sessions and will continue till October 19, is aimed at reviewing the progress on the annual working plan formulated at the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha in March this year. The meeting also took stock of the expansion of the organisational work. In addition, discussions on the important contemporary development in the country would also be made.
A senior RSS functionary said, “The issues to be deliberated include population imbalance and population control, environment conservation, challenges to family units due to increasing urbanisation and spread of western influences which promote individualism, steps for social harmony and imparting education in mother tongue. Besides, extension works are to be discussed at length.”
