RSS brings in its youngest ever No.3 rung leaders, with roots in Maharashtra, Jharkhand

In their 50s, Kumar and Limaye are the youngest infusion in the sah sarkaryavah group, which is No.3 in the Sangh hierarchy, after RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale.

Hosabale, who took over as RSS sarkaryavah in 2021, continues in the post, while senior RSS leader Manmohan Vaidya, who was sah sarkaryavah, has been moved to membership of the Sangh’s National Executive.

Limaye belongs to Maharashtra and was the designated ‘kshetra pracharak’ of the Sangh in the western region, as part of which he is said to have overseen RSS work and expansion in Maharashtra, which also includes the RSS headquarters at Nagpur, apart from Gujarat and Goa.

“He is an old-timer who has spent a considerable number of years in Maharashtra and Gujarat. His elevation as sah sarkaryavah will strengthen the organisation in these two crucial states,” an RSS functionary said.

Alok Kumar has been the joint national publicity in-charge, and Sangh insiders admitted he was a surprise pick for the joint general secretary post. It is seen as part of the Sangh’s effort to infuse young energy in the top brass; it helps that he is based currently in Ranchi, Jharkhand, a state that the BJP sees as within its reach.

Hailing from western Uttar Pradesh, Kumar joined the Sangh in 1988 as a zila pracharak in Nainital. He then worked as vibhag pramukh in Haryana before becoming the prant pracharak of Meerut. In 2014, he was elevated as kshetra pracharak of western UP, with his jurisdiction extending to Uttarakhand.

Sources said Kumar was instrumental in deepening Sangh influence in the region, and is seen to have played a role in the BJP sweeping Lok Sabha polls in western UP.

Kumar has been replaced as joint national publicity in-charge with Pradeep Joshi, who has worked extensively in Arunachal Pradesh, West Bengal and Odisha.

Apart from these changes, Jatin Kumar, who was the prant pracharak of Delhi, has been elevated as uttar kshetra pracharak. The ‘uttar kshetra’ includes Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

Bharat Bhushan, the owner of Bharat Prakashan, who was prant karyavah in Delhi, has been appointed all-India sah sampark pramukh and would be working with sampark pramukh Ram Lal.

Anil Gupta has replaced Bharat Bhushan as prant karyavah.

Sunil Mehta has been appointed as boudhik pramukh (chief of intellectual wing) in place of Swant Ranjan, who has been appointed as pracharak pramukh.

Sunil Kulkarni, who was sharirik pramukh, has become sah pracharak pramukh.