Last week, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said in Mumbai that “any Hindu, regardless of caste, can become the Sarsanghchalak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh”. This is how the RSS Sarsanghchalak is chosen, the persons who have held the position, and the castes they belong to.

The post

The Sarsanghchalak (in common parlance, comparable to a president) is regarded as the guide and philosopher of the organisation. In the daily shakha and at formal, full-dress functions of the RSS, wherever the Sarsanghchalak is present, a special Sarsanghchalak pranam is offered to him.

The executive head of the RSS is the person holding the post of Sarkaryawah (or general secretary). The titles Sarsanghchalak and Sarkaryawah reflect the influence of Marathi-speaking members in the RSS. Little surprise there as the organisation was started in Maharashtra’s Nagpur on Vijayadashami day in 1925.

The process

While the RSS has a well-defined election process for its top executive post, that is the Sarkaryawah, there is no election for the Sarsanghchalak position. Under the organisation’s convention, the sitting Sarsanghchalak has the prerogative to pick his successor and announce it at an appropriate time.

The successor holds the position for life or until he steps down. 

The Sarkaryawah, on the other hand, is elected by the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS) in Nagpur once every three years — the duration of his tenure. The ABPS is the Sangh’s highest decision-making body and is made up of representatives from across the country

After being elected, the Sarkaryawah selects his team.

The line of succession

Hedgewar selects Golwalkar

K B Hedgewar, a Brahmin from Nagpur, founded the RSS and remained its chief until his death on June 21, 1940 at the age of 51.

A sealed envelope he left behind contained the name of his successor — M S Golwalkar, then only 33 years old. Golwalkar, also a Brahmin, was announced as the new RSS chief on July 3 that year. 

Golwalkar would go on to pick his successor in the same manner as Hedgewar. 

Golwalkar selects Deoras

Golwalkar served as Sarsanghchalak for 33 years, until his death on June 5, 1973.  Under his tenure, the RSS expanded into several new areas and established many frontal organisations.

Golwalkar, too, left behind an envelope bearing his successor’s name. The name was made public on June 6, the day after his death — 58-year-old Balasaheb Deoras. 

Along with his brother Bhaurao Deoras, Balasaheb Deoras had worked for a long time in the organisation. He had served as Sarkaryawah from 1965 to 1973. 

Deoras selects Singh

While Golwalkar, called “guruji” by swayamsevaks, had in followed the footsteps of Hedgewar, Deoras did not stay on in the post until his death. 

Acknowledging his ailing health, Deoras announced his successor during his lifetime, ending his tenure at 21 years.

Rajendra Singh, also called Rajju Bhaiya, took over the post of Sarsanghchalak from March 11, 1994. Then 72, Singh became the oldest person to hold this charge. 

Interestingly, Singh himself had quit the Sarkaryawah post in 1987 (his tenure began in 1978) owing to ill health. He then served as one of the four Sah-Sarkaryavahs (or joint general secretary) under H V Sheshadri, who was made Sarkaryawah in his place. 

Singh has been the only non-Brahmin Sarsanghchalak so far, and only one from North India. He was from a Thakur family originally hailing from Bulandshahr which later moved to Allahabad. There, Singh studied and taught Physics before becoming a pracharak. His tenure was the shortest, lasting about six years. 

Singh selects Sudarshan

By 2000, both Rajendra Singh and Sarkaryawah H V Sheshadri were in poor health. With the Sarkaryawah election due in March that year, Singh announced his decision to appoint K S Sudarshan, then 69, as his successor. Sudarshan was then a Sah-sarkaryawah.

Sudarshan was also a Brahmin, hailing from Karnataka. An engineer by qualification, he continued in the post until the March 2009 RSS Pratinidhi Sabha. He had never served as Sarkaryawah, but had worked as Sah-sarkaryawah under Sheshadri.

In 2000, the ABPS also elected a new Sarkaryawah: Mohan Bhagwat. Sheshadri, incidentally, became the longest serving Sarkaryawah, with his tenure lasting from 1987 to 2000.

Sudarshan selects Bhagwat

When the ABPS met in Nagpur on March 21, 2009, many delegates were unaware of the dramatic events that were to unfold. Mohan Bhagwat, who had served as Sarkaryawah for nine years (2000–2009), told delegates that he wished to step aside.

Before the election process began, however, Sudarshan intervened. “My memory is failing… My responsibility requires me to study more and more but I can’t do that due to my poor health. I want to transfer my responsibilities as Sarsanghchalak to Mohanrao Bhagwatji.”

With these words, Sudarshan left his seat.

Bhagwat, touched the feet of Sudarshan and other elders, sat on the chair and thus took over as new Sarsanghchalak. He was then 58 years old.

Like most of his predecessors, except Rajendra Singh, Bhagwat is a Brahmin. He was the first Sarsanghchalak born after Hedgewar’s death. A veterinary doctor from Chandrapur in Maharashtra, Bhagwat became an RSS pracharak during the Emergency in 1975. This also made him the first Sarsanghchalak who had become a pracharak after Golwalkar’s death.