Over 300 members from the RSS affiliated bodies, including the Bharatiya Janata Party, will attend the three-day coordination meeting starting from Saturday in Palakkad, Kerala. The annual stock-taking exercise will also discuss the situation in Bangladesh, particularly the attacks on Hindus, among other issues of national and societal importance.
Another key issue that will be discussed will be the 100th-year celebration of the RSS, which will start from Vijaydashmi 2025. For this, the RSS has decided on five 'transformational' issues which will be scaled up by all the linked bodies. “These are social harmony, family awareness, environmental concerns, self-development and civic responsibilities,” RSS’s spokesperson, Sunil Ambekar said.
Ambedkar said these coordination meetings have been happening for the last seven years and it was held in Pune last year.
This year’s meeting assumes importance as it is the first one since the Lok Sabha polls where BJP could not match its last polls’ performance. There were talks about the RSS cadre staying away from the election process owing to differences with the BJP. BJP chief J.P. Nadda will also participate in the meeting.
“Issues of national importance, national security, state-level key issues and important and alarming events issues will also be taken up. The emphasis is on enhancing our coordination through formal and informal systems,” Ambekar said.
Sources said issues related to caste, SC/ST categorisation, the Uniform Civil Code and the West Bengal case may also be taken up.
In all, 320 participants will be there in the meeting representing 32 RSS-linked bodies. From RSS, its chief Mohan Bhagwat and Sarkaryavah Dattatreya Hosabale will also attend among other office bearers.
Through these meetings, stock-taking is done of various activities carried out by the RSS’ frontal bodies. They share their feedback even with the government and the BJP leaders so that appropriate policy measures can be taken. In the past, even union ministers have also attended the coordination meetings. Even the decision to implement 'One Rank, One Pension' was taken after the issue was raised in the meeting in 2015.
