The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was founded in 1925 by Dr. K.B. Hedgewar from Nagpur, with an aim to unite Hindus. Dr. Hedgewar never used to impose his ideologies on others. In fact, for naming of Sangh, Doctorji arranged a baithak in his house on April 7, 1926 where 26 persons participated. Three names were suggested after elaborate discussions. The name RSS was finally decided upon. He was the one who took the RSS to a considerable network across India. M.S. Golwarkar was then nominated as a successor to Mr. Hedgewar in 1940, who held the charge for 33 years. The nationalistic ideology of the RSS made it popular throughout India. Currently the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is active in India as well as abroad and is also known as Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh or just a Sangh that is Hindu nationalist organization. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has near about 4.5 million active members across India and over 100 affiliate bodies. Some of the members also take part in Military drill. The Rashtriya Swaysevak Sangh initially did not recognize the Constitution of India and Heavily criticised it in view of the fact that the Indian Constitution made no mention of “Manu’s laws’ from the controversial ancient Hindu text Manusmriti, which had been accused of denigrating the lower castes and untouchables in India.

Contents: Preface. 1. Introduction. 2. Structure and Mission of RSS. 3. RSS, Jana Sangh and BJP. 3. Vision of Hedgewar. 5. Hindutva: the ideology of the RSS. 6. RSS, Hindutva and Savarkar. 7. Modi and RSS. Bibliography. Index.