PM Modi to attend Sangh Parivar coordination meeting

93 top functionaries of RSS and its 15 affiliates will exchange notes over issues like census figures and 'one rank one pension'

The Sangh Parivar, including top leaders of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its affiliates like the Bharatiya Janata Party and other Hindutva outfits, will have a three day long coordination meeting from Wednesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also attend the meeting.

RSS chief spokesperson Manmohan Vaidya said on Monday that 93 top functionaries of the RSS and its 15 affiliates will "exchange notes" over issues like the census figures and 'one rank one pension' during the coordination meeting starting from September 2.

"This meeting is not meant to review the government's work or take a decision. Nor will it be at the centre of our discussion. But yes we will get all kinds of inputs and discuss that," Vaidya said.

The coordination committee meetings are held twice a year but on a much smaller scale. This is set to be the biggest such coordination committee meeting of leading Sangh Parivar outfits in recent times.

"The participation will be almost double than usual. The meeting is bigger because lot many things are happening in our society and there will be wider inputs from everybody," Vaidya said.

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat besides a host of government ministers will also attend the exercise. Vaidya said the RSS has witnessed steep growth in its work. He said the number of volunteers that the RSS trains each year have increased from 80,000 in 2014 to 115,000 this year.

To a question whether the increase was thanks to friendly governments at the Centre and several states, Vaidya said the RSS had done well in Kerala, where BJP is a marginal player and has never been in power.

Among the 93 high level functionaries participating, 25 will be from RSS and the rest from its affiliates. As they work across the country throughout the year and interact with a wide section of people, coordination meeting is held in which they exchange notes about "what is happening in society and what is on people's mind".

The rarely large congregation of top leaders of RSS and its affiliates also reflects the bonhomie between them and the BJP-led government at the Centre and in several states.