RSS Joint General Secy Arun Kumar succeeds Krisha Gopal as coordinator to BJP

Marking a major reshuffle in its top brass, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on Sunday appointed its Joint General Secretary Arun Kumar as the new coordinator of the BJP.

The RSS in its 'Akhil Bharatiya Prant Prachar Baithak' at Chitrakoot, designated Arun Kumar as BJP’s Sampark Adhikari. Known for being proactive on issues related to Jammu and Kashmir as well as national security, Kumar will now officially coordinate between the RSS and BJP.

The post was earlier held by Sah Sarkaryawah Dr Krishna Gopal since 2015. RSS Prachar Pramukh Sunil Ambekar said that this was a routine exercise and that the Sangh keep shifting its workers from one responsibility to another.

Meanwhile, Pradeep Joshi has been appointed as the 'All-India Sah Sampark Pramukh' by the RSS. Until now, Joshi worked as the field pracharak of West Bengal and Odisha. The organisation has also made big changes in the office bearers of RSS as it recently replaced the Area Pracharaks, Co-area Pracharaks and Province Pracharaks of West Bengal.

More changes are likely to take place in the RSS organisation, particularly with regard to inducting some leaders in the Bharatiya Janata Party. Similar changes are also expected in kshetra heads, just as Kishore Barman was sent to Tripura from West Bengal in a decision made on Friday.

Earlier this year, the RSS had made a generational shift in its organisational structure by elevating Dattatreya Hosabale as general secretary and Arun Kumar along with Ramdatt Chakarddhar as joint general secretary.

RSS holds 5-day meeting of pracharaks

The five-day meeting of the RSS began in Chitrakoot on Friday. The meeting is being attended by senior RSS functionaries, including Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat, sarkaryawah Dattatreya Hosable and all five sah-sarkaryawah (joint general secretaries). Bhagwat virtually interacted with kshetra and sah-kshetra pracharaks of 11 regions from across the country on Friday and Saturday. Kshetra pracharaks are crucial functionaries of the RSS, overseeing the organisation's activity in their regions.

On July 12, the ‘prant’ and ‘sah prant pracharak’ of all 45 prants will  participate in a virtual meeting. On July 13, Akhil Bhartiya Sanghathan Mantri (All India organizing secretaries) of various organizations will participate via video conference. The five-day meeting will review the work done by volunteers during the pandemic and will also devise an action plan for the impending third wave of the COVID-19.

(With inputs from agency)