By Shabbir Ahmed / The News Minute
In what appears to be a clear indication that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is now seriously looking at its standing in Tamil Nadu, the Hindutva organisation held its first ever closed-door interaction with news editors of the state’s top media houses on Tuesday, August 16. The meeting was helmed by no less than Dattatreya Hosabale, the organisation’s second-in-command or Sarkaryawah.
The ‘off the record’ meeting with the editors belonging to prominent Tamil and English media houses was planned as part of the RSS’ outreach programme in Tamil Nadu.
The RSS leader spoke about the organisation and what it plans to achieve in Tamil Nadu in future. “This was the first time RSS has made a direct attempt to reach out to media houses in Tamil Nadu,” said one of the editors who attended the meeting.
TNM spoke to some of the editors who attended the meeting to know what transpired at the meeting. “The idea of the RSS is to reach out to Tamil Nadu media houses as part of their outreach programs ahead of 2024 general elections and they want to reach out particularly to the Tamil media,” said an editor. When asked why RSS has organised a meet-up particularly with media personnel, the editor relayed what Hosabale told them: “Our aim is to win the hearts and minds of the people of Tamil Nadu.”
Another journalist told TNM that the event was initially planned as an interaction with owners of media houses but later it was converted as a meeting with editors. “Only select media houses were sent formal invites which categorically mentioned that this was to be a strictly off-record meeting.”
This story was originally published in thenewsminute.com . Read the full story here