In a bid to increase its presence in the south Indian states, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has turned its focus to five states.
While Kerala has the highest number of shakhas in the country, in Tamil Nadu, the Sangh carried out a door-to-door campaign. In Karnataka, a maximum number of members are volunteering for the Sangh’s centenary celebrations to be held in 2025.
According to the Sangh leaders, in Tamil Nadu, they carried out a 20-day door-to-door campaign. “We reached out to as many as 50% of the households. We asked them their opinions on temple management, the Hindu faith, and about RSS. We got a lot of appreciation, and one of the key issues they flagged was conversion. People had strong opinions on that,” a senior functionary of the Sangh told DH.
The functionary said that the general idea was that outreach was a commendable exercise, especially since Tamil Nadu is a state where the Sangh does not have a political base. “In several areas, people asked us why did we not come to the state earlier,” the functionary said.
In Kerala, the Sangh has a little less than 5,000 shakhas, the functionary said.
“The politics in Kerala is different from what we deal with in the north, and we hope to make a lot more inroads in the state soon,” the functionary added.
This story was originally published in deccanherald.com . Read the full story here