Remembering K S Sudarshan ji, RSS' 5th Sarsanghchalak on his death anniversary today- A short profile-

Do you believe 'Swadeshi' or 'Aatmanirbharta' is something good that has happened to India? Well, some of it's credit shall go to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's former Sarsanghchalak, K S Sudarshan. Marking the occasion of his death anniversary today, it becomes significant to note that the fifth Sarsanghchalak of the RSS, who headed the Sangh founthead from 2000 to 2009, was a strong votary of 'swadeshi'.

 

 

Former RSS chief Kuppalli Sitaramayya Sudarshan was a Hindutva hardliner who never shied away from a controversy or two even if it meant crossing swords with the BJP. A gold medallist in Bachelor of Engineering in Telecommunications from Sagar University, Sudarshan ji, who attended his first RSS shakha at the age of nine, chose to become an RSS pracharak.

 

 

Born on June 18, 1931, in Raipur, he became a pracharak in 1954. In 1964, he was made the pranth pracharak and in 1969 and was appointed convener at the national level. Sudarshan ji rose through the RSS ranks and became the number two in the organisation under Rajju Bhaiyya, who later handed over the reins to him in 2000 due to ill-health.

 

 

 

A forceful speaker, Sudarshan ji was fluent in his native tongue Kannada and other languages such as Bengali and Assamese. Unlike his predecessor Rajendra Singh alias Rajju Bhaiyya, who taught physics in Allahabad University, Sudarshan ji was more of a hardliner. He continued to staunchly believe in the ideology of 'Hindutva' and 'Swadeshi'.

 

 

After serving in Raigarh as a pracharak, Sudarshan ji had worked in the North-East (1977) and then took over as the chief of the Baudhik Cell (RSS intellectual cell) two years later. During emergency, he was lodged in Indore jail along with JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav. In 1990, he was appointed joint general secretary of the organisation. He had held key posts of Sharirik (physical exercises) and Baudhik (intellectual) Pramukh during his tenure in the RSS.

 

Though he was the first RSS chief hailing from South, Sudarshan was born, brought up and educated in Madhya Pradesh. His parents hailed from Kuppahalli village of Karnataka. He also openly expressed his views against the church following the visit of the Pope in 1999. He favoured Indianisation of Christians and Muslims here. Till his end, Sudarshan followed a rigorous physical discipline and never missed his yoga and meditation.

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