New Delhi: Dattatreya Hosabale on Saturday was appointed as the new General Secretary of RSS, replacing Bhaiyaji Joshi.
The official Twitter handle of RSS wrote, "Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha of RSS elected Shri Dattatreya Hosabale as its Sarkaryavah. He was Sah Sarkaryavah of RSS since 2009."
The decision was taken in a three-day meeting of Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha, the annual conclave held at Bengaluru. Hosabale will be Sarkaryavah of RSS for the term of three years. The election to the post of Sarkaryavah takes place once in three years.
Hosabale, who hails from Shivamogga, will be replacing Bhaiyaji Joshi.
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He joined RSS in 1968 and also played an active role in the youth development centre in Guhawati. Hosabale was the founding editor of Aseema, a Kannada monthly.
Hailing from a family of RSS activists, he is the founding trustee of India Policy Foundation, a non-profit policy research organization. During the period of Indian Emergency from 1975 to 1977, he was arrested and imprisoned for 16 months.
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He also served as the general secretary for the student organization Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad for 15 years.
He has voiced his opinion on Indian Secularism being anti-Hindu, saying "When it comes to the Idea of India, there is no dispute as such; the point is that there can be a variety of ideas and each must be permitted its space. It’s not necessary that they should be at loggerheads or contradictory to each other."
Widely travelled, Hosabale was also the mentor of organizational activities of Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh in USA and UK.
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