Dattatreya Hosabale elected as RSS general secretary

Karnataka-born Dattatreya Hosabale was on Saturday elected as the Sarkaryavah (general secretary) of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

He was until now the Sah-Sarkaryavah (joint general secretary) of the Sangh.

The election took place at the two-day annual meeting of the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS), the Sangh's highest decision-making body, that began in Bengaluru on Friday.

"Bangaluru : Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha of RSS elected Shri Dattatreya Hosabale as its Sarkaryavah. He was Sah Sarkaryavah of RSS since 2009," RSS tweeted.

Hosabale will replace the 73-year-old Suresh 'Bhaiyyaji' Joshi, who was Sarkaryavah for four terms, with each term having three years.

Sarkaryavah post is considered as Sangh's number 2 in command after Sarsanghchalak (chief of RSS), which is currently held by Mohan Bhagwat.

Though ABPS is an annual meet held at different places, every third year, it is held at RSS headquarters in Nagpur as election of Sarkaryavah will take place.

However, it was shifted to Bengaluru this time in the wake of surging COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra.

Born in Sorab in Shivamogga, 65-year-old Hosabale, a post-graduate in English literature, has grown in the Sangh, which he joined in 1968. He was initially associated with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), student wing of the RSS, and became an organiser in RSS.