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The article lists the leaders of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The RSS is an Indian Hindutva paramilitary organisation, which is widely regarded as the ideological parent of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), India’s ruling political party.[1][2][3][4] In the 21st century, it is the world’s largest far-right organisation by membership.[5]

Sarsanghchalak

The sarsanghchalak (lit. ‘Chief‘) serves as the leader of the RSS. The position is decided, through nomination, by the predecessor. Since the formation of the RSS in 1925, six individuals have served as the sarsanghchalak. K. B. Hedgewar, the founder of the RSS, also served as its first sarsanghchalak. The sixth and current sarsanghchalak of the organisation is Mohan Bhagwat.[6]

List of officeholders

No. Portrait Name
(Birth–Death) 		Term of office Ref.
Took office Left office Time in office
1 K. B. Hedgewar
(1889–1940) 		27 September 1925 21 June 1940 14 years, 268 days [7]
2 M. S. Golwalkar
(1906–1973) 		21 June 1940 5 June 1973 32 years, 349 days [8]
3 Madhukar Dattatraya Deoras
(1915–1996) 		5 June 1973 11 March 1994 20 years, 279 days [9][10]
4 Rajendra Singh
(1922–2003) 		11 March 1994 10 March 2000 5 years, 365 days [10][11]
5 K. S. Sudarshan
(1931–2012) 		10 March 2000 21 March 2009 9 years, 11 days [12]
6 Mohan Bhagwat
(born 1950) 		21 March 2009 Incumbent 17 years, 29 days [13]

Sarkaryavah

The sarkaryavah (lit. ‘General Secretary‘) serves as the operational head of the RSS. The position is elected by members of the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha, in elections that occur once every three years. Gopal Mukund Huddar served as the first sarkaryavah of the organisation. Dattatreya Hosabale is the current sarkaryavah, who has been serving since 2021.[14]

List of officeholders

No. Portrait Name
(Birth–Death) 		Term of office Ref.
Took office Left office Time in office
1 Gopal Mukund Huddar
(1902–1981) 		c. 1926 or c. 1928 c. 1931 c. 5 years or c. 3 years [15][16][17]
– H. V. Seshadri
(1926–2005) 		c. 1987 c. 2000 c. 13 years [18][19][20]
– Mohan Bhagwat
(born 1950) 		c. 2000 21 March 2009 c. 9 years [19][20]
– Suresh Joshi
(born 1947) 		c. March 2009 20 March 2021 c. 12 years [21]
– Dattatreya Hosabale
(born 1954) 		20 March 2021 Incumbent 5 years, 29 days [21]

See also

References

  1. ^ McLeod, John (2002). The history of India. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 209–. ISBN 978-0-313-31459-9. Retrieved 11 June 2010.
  2. ^ Andersen, Walter K.; Damle, Shridhar D. (1987), The Brotherhood in Saffron: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Hindu Revivalism, Delhi: Vistaar Publications, p. 111, ISBN 9788170360537
  3. ^ Horowitz, Donald L. (2001). The Deadly Ethnic Riot. University of California Press. p. 244. ISBN 978-0520224476.
  4. ^ Haynes, Jeff (2 September 2003). Democracy and Political Change in the Third World. Routledge. pp. 168–. ISBN 978-1-134-54184-3.
  5. ^ Pal, Felix; Chaudhary, Neha (4 March 2023). “Leaving the Hindu Far Right”. South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies. 46 (2): 425–444. doi:10.1080/00856401.2023.2179817. ISSN 0085-6401. S2CID 257565310.
  6. ^ Kanugo, Pralay (2002). RSS’s tryst with politics: from Hedgewar to Sudarshan. Manohar. p. 76. ISBN 9788173043987.
  7. ^ Puniyani, Ram (21 July 2005). Religion, Power and Violence: Expression of Politics in Contemporary Times. p. 125. ISBN 0761933387.
  8. ^ Jaffrelot, Christophe. The Hindu Nationalist Movement and Indian Politics. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers. p. 39.
  9. ^ Banerjee, Sumanta. Shrinking space: minority rights in South Asia. South Asia Forum for Human Rights. p. 171.
  10. ^ a b Anand, Arun (11 December 2021). “3rd RSS chief Balasaheb Deoras: Organiser, strategic thinker who made swayamsevaks ‘introspect’“. ThePrint.
  11. ^ Islam, Shamsul (2006). Religious Dimensions of Indian Nationalism: A Study of RSS. Anamika Pub & Distributors. p. 36. ISBN 9788174952363.
  12. ^ Jaffrelot, Christophe (2010). Religion, Caste, and Politics in India. Primus Books. p. 205. ISBN 9789380607047.
  13. ^ “RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat urges youth to follow path shown by leaders”. Times Now. 13 August 2018. Archived from the original on 13 August 2018.
  14. ^ Pandey, Neelam (7 February 2024). “Dattatreya Hosabale likely to be re-elected RSS general secretary at apex body meet in Nagpur”. ThePrint.
  15. ^ Tsou, Nancy; Tsou, Len (25 August 2016). “Gopal Mukund Huddar: An Indian Volunteer in the IBs”. The Volunteer. Archived from the original on 2 September 2016.
  16. ^ Andersen, Walter K.; Damle, Shridhar D. (1987). The Brotherhood in Saffron: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Hindu Revivalism. Avalon Publishing. p. 64. ISBN 9780813373584.
  17. ^ Mukhopadhyay, Nilanjan (2025). The RSS: Icons of the Indian Right. Westland Books. p. 28. ISBN 9789395767415.
  18. ^ “Veteran RSS leader H V Seshadri dead”. Rediff.com. 14 August 2005. Archived from the original on 27 December 2005.
  19. ^ a b “Mohan Bhagwat: A vet, RSS pracharak for over 30 years”. Hindustan Times. 21 March 2009. Archived from the original on 17 April 2018.
  20. ^ a b Deshpande, Vivek (10 March 2018). “Bhaiyyaji Joshi re-elected RSS general secretary for fourth time”. The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 10 March 2018.
  21. ^ a b Yadav, Shyamlal (20 March 2021). “Explained: Who is Dattatreya Hosabale, the new RSS sarkaryawah?”. The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 20 March 2021.