The visit of former President Pranab Mukherjee to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) headquarters earlier this month has provided a boost to the number of persons approaching the organisation to join it, the RSS leadership said here in Kolkata on Monday.
Via portal
“The number of people who applied on our portal to join the RSS on June 7 was 1,779. Before this, on an average, about 400 people were reaching to us through the portal on a daily basis. Since then [Mr. Mukherjee’s visit], the number is around 1,100 to 1,200 every day,” said Biplab Ray, RSS Dakhin Banga Prant (South Bengal Region) Prachar Pramukh, said at a press conference.
Jishnu Basu, State secretary of the RSS, echoed similar views.
Both the RSS functionaries said that 40% of those approaching the organisation to be a member of the organisation were from West Bengal.
The RSS functionaries, however, said that though Mr. Mukherjee’s presence was one of the factors behind the increase in people approaching the RSS, it was not the only reason for the increased interest.
‘Viewpoint similar’
RSS functionaries also circulated a letter signed by senior leader Manmohan Vaidya, which said that the viewpoint expressed by Mr. Mukherjee and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat at the concluding ceremony of the organisation’s third year training camp in Nagpur, held on June 7, were similar.