Kolkata, Sep 23 The RSS, which had 5,000 shakhas in West Bengal when the BJP came to power in the state in May, aims to double the number by Mahalaya on October 10 through extensive outreach programmes, a senior functionary said on Wednesday.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological fountainhead of the BJP, has witnessed expansion in West Bengal over the years, state Prachar Pramukh Biplab Ray said.
“Till May this year, we had around 5,000 shakhas across the state. The figure is now much higher. Many more people have expressed their desire to join the RSS,” Ray told PTI.
From October 1 to 10, the organisation will conduct a series of special outreach programmes across the state as part of its effort to expand its grassroots network.
“We are confident that by October 10, we will have 10,000 shakhas across the state,” Ray said.
According to RSS, the organisation had 580 shakhas in West Bengal in 2011. The number rose to 1,280 in 2014 and 1,492 in December 2016.
The latest expansion drive will focus particularly on young people, including members of Gen Z, with the RSS planning youth conferences and outreach programmes across districts.
Local functionaries have been tasked with mobilising youngsters and encouraging them to participate in RSS activities, with the organisation seeking to promote its ideas of nationalism, patriotism and social service.
The expansion of organisational activities comes against the backdrop of the change of government in West Bengal, where the BJP defeated the 15-year-old Trinamool Congress regime in the assembly elections held earlier this year.
The RSS has also expanded its infrastructure in the state.
A new five-storey office, ‘Keshav Smriti’, has been constructed in Action Area 2D in New Town near Kolkata and is scheduled to be inaugurated on September 26 by RSS Sarkaryavah Dattatreya Hosabale.
The organisation has traditionally operated its regional activities from Keshav Bhavan on Abhedananda Road in north Kolkata. However, the RSS said the premises had become inadequate amid an increase in volunteer participation and expansion of its social activities.
A puja is scheduled to be held at the new office on Wednesday and is likely to be attended by West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari.
The new office is expected to serve as a larger base for the RSS’s expanding organisational and social activities in the state.
(PTI News)
