Dattatreya Hosabale replaces Bhayyaji Joshi as RSS general secretary

Dattatreya Hosabale was on March 20 elected the new Sarkaryawah (general secretary) of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

Hosabale, 65 replaces Suresh 73-year-old Suresh ‘Bhayyaji’ Joshi, who has been the RSS general secretary, the senior most executive position of the Sangh, for four consecutive terms of three years each since 2009.

The elections was held during the two-day Akhil Bhartiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS) of the RSS at Bengaluru on March 20. The RSS confirmed the development on its Twitter handle.

बेंगलुरु : संघ की अखिल भारतीय प्रतिनिधि सभा में सरकार्यवाह पद के लिए श्री दत्तात्रेय होसबाले जी निर्वाचित हुए। वे 2009 से सह सरकार्यवाह का दायित्व निर्वहन कर रहे थे। pic.twitter.com/wEVwGCDaWD

— RSS (@RSSorg) March 20, 2021

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Hailing from a family of RSS activists, he joined RSS in 1968 and then the student organisation ABVP in 1972. He became a full-time worker of ABVP in 1978. He was the general secretary of ABVP for 15 years working from  Mumbai. In 2004, he became the second-in-command of the intellectual wing of the RSS.  He has been to jail during emergency under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) and was imprisoned for 16 months.

Hosabale  has voiced his opinion on Indian Secularism being anti-Hindu. "When it comes to the Idea of India, there is no dispute as such. The point is that there can be a variety of ideas and each must be permitted its space. It’s not necessary that they should be at loggerheads or contradictory to each other," he said.

The 'Pratinidhi Sabha', a meeting of top RSS office-bearers from across the country along with delegates and heads of other Sangh Parivar organisations, is usually held every three years in Nagpur, Maharashtra. But this year, the ABPS is meeting in Bengaluru. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, only about 450 delegates could attend. The rest  voted virtually from their respective headquarters.