Bhagwat steers largest RSS gathering in Ayodhya since 1992 Babri demolition

AYODHYA: The Sangh brass led by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, his second in command Dattatreya Hosabale and 500 top swayamsevaks from across India participated in a mega ‘sharirik abhyas varga’ (physical training camp) on Wednesday at the sprawling Karsewakpuram campus in Ayodhya, which was once the nerve centre of the temple movement and houses the district’s VHP headquarters.
The five-day camp is the largest gathering of RSS workers and top functionaries in Ayodhya since the mobilisation of thousands of Sangh cadre in the temple town in the run-up to the Babri demolition in 1992.
The coming together of RSS veterans in Ayodhya after 30 years assumes significance in the backdrop of Ram temple construction, which has picked up pace to meet the December 2023 deadline for opening the sanctum sanctorum to pilgrims.
On the second day of the training camp, top RSS leaders, including Bhagwat, Hosabale, Krishna Gopal, Bhaiyyaji Joshi, physical training chief Sunil Kulkarni, deputy chief Jagdish Prasad, Anil Ok, Ram Laal and Suresh Chandra participated in the session in traditional Sangh attire. After the fitness grind, RSS workers performed a parade.
In the second session, Bhagwat and Hosabale exhorted RSS workers to dedicate their lives to the organisation to become a complete swayam sewak. Cadres were told that Sangh training was not limited to physical exercise, but was a combination of ideology, knowledge, karma and bhakti. They took a pledge — I belong to the Sangh and the Sangh is mine. Talking to TOI, an RSS functionary from Bihar said, the training camps provide an action plan, which help recruits become full-fledged swayam sevaks. RSS workers from different provinces of the country are residing at Karsevakpuram, where a grand arrangement for food and lodging has been made.
Bhagwat is likely to visit Ramjanmabhoomi and Hanumangarhi on Thursday and hold a meeting with Ram Temple Trust members and the temple construction committee president Nripendra Mishra