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A disciplinarian who won't spare himself

Onkar Singh

Even before the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh convention began in Nagpur in the middle of this week, people in the Delhi RSS headquarters, Keshav Kunj, knew that Kuppahali Seetaramaiyah Sudarshan was to be the next sarsanghchalak after Dr Rajendra Thakur quit on health grounds. The only person who didn't believe the rumours was Sudarshan himself.

He strongly felt that H V Seshadri should take over from Thakur aka Rajju Bhaiya because he was next in command.

"He is not the kind who would ignore his seniors. In fact, all RSS workers are trained in a manner that they accept what comes to them and do not complain," said a senior RSS functionary in Delhi.

Born on June 18, 1931 in Raipur, Sudarshan grew up in Madhya Pradesh. Originally from Karnataka, the family had settled down in Madhya Pradesh because his father was posted there as a divisional forest officer.

His father was a strict disciplinarian and his mother was deeply religious. He imbibed both these qualities and was only in the ninth standard when he joined the RSS in the mid-forties.

An electronic and telecommunications engineer from Sagar University, Sudarshan starts his day at 4.30 am. After his morning rituals, he does yoga for an hour. After a prayer, by 6 am he is ready for work at the shakha.

This is one ritual that he does not miss out anywhere. If he is on tour, then the local RSS workers ensure that he joins the nearest shakha. After the visit to the shakha, he goes in for a series of meetings.

Sudarshan is a vegetarian and bibliophile. Eldest son in the family as a youngster Sudarshan was keen kabbadi player. He has ears for music and can sing the Sangh songs with great flair.

He has the ability to grasp things easily. He has a good knowledge of religion, politics, astronomy and medicine. While he was the in-charge of the north-eastern wing of the RSS, from 1977 to 1979, he studied the problems of the area and wrote a book entitled What Ails the North-East, S Chari, editor of the party newspaper Organiser told rediff.com.

A powerful speaker, he can read and write many languages. Sudarshan has held a number of important positions.

"I hope you extend him the same kind of support that you have given me all these years," Thakur told RSS workers as he named the new RSS chief.

BJP spokesperson J P Mathur described the new RSS chief as a man of youthful intelligence who is dedicated to social work.

In 1994-95 he suffered a minor heart attack after his mother expired. Friends and well-wishers advised him a bypass surgery but he declined the suggestion. In a recent interview with a leading national daily he described the RSS as a sort of university where "certain basic qualities like national character and discipline are sought to be ingrained. Today volunteers have entered not only politics, but also labour, education and religion. They are all doing social welfare work," he said.

According to Sudarshan, the minorities in India have no reason for feel insecure.

"There is no harm [in following their religions] as long it does not impinge upon their loyalty to their motherland," he says.

But his comments on the scope of the Constitution Review Committee have attracted much media attention.

"The present Constitution is but an extension of the Government of India Act, 1935, enacted by the British to serve their imperialistic objectives. Some chapters, drawing from other constitutions have been added, making it the biggest written constitution. The review committee will examine how far the Westminister type of parliamentary democracy has been beneficial to us, and whether it needs changes," Sudarshan said in an interview.

A hardcore RSS leader, Sudarshan gets along well with the top leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He has clear idea of what he wants to do and is assertive by nature.

Most RSS and BJP leaders tried to play down his image as a disciplinarian who may prove to be an obstacle for the smooth functioning of the National Democratic Alliance government.

They also sought to dispel the impression that the Swadeshi Jagran Manch movement was Sudarshan's brainchild.

"He was assigned a task and he did his job. Now this task would go to someone else," said one of his close associates. But those who have worked with him also know that he isn't flexible on Hindutva. And this is what could decide how he reacts when the NDA faces any future crisis.

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