Kuppahalli Sitaramayya Sudarshan (18 June 1931 – 15 September 2012) was the fifth '' Sarsanghachalak'' of the

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( ; , , ) is an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organisation. The RSS is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar (Hindi for "Sangh family ...

(RSS), a

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

organisation from 2000 to 2009. __TOC__

Biography

Sudarshan was born in a Sanketi

brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (gur ...

family at

Raipur Raipur ( ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Raipur is also the administrative headquarters of Raipur district and Raipur division, and the largest city of the state. It was a part of Madhya Pradesh before the state of Ch ...

(now in Chhattisgarh). He received his Bachelor of Engineering in

Telecommunications Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...

(honours) from

Jabalpur Engineering College Jabalpur Engineering College (JEC) is an institute located in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India. It is the oldest technical institution in central India and the 15th-oldest in India. It is the first institute of India to have started the Electron ...

(formerly named as Government Engineering college) in

Jabalpur Jabalpur is a city situated on the banks of Narmada River in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. According to the 2011 census, it is the third-largest urban agglomeration in Madhya Pradesh and the country's 38th-largest urban agglomeration. J ...

. His parents hailed from Kuppahalli village, Mandya District of Karnataka. He was only nine years old when he first attended an RSS

Shakha A shakha (Sanskrit ', "branch" or "limb") is a Hindu theological school that specializes in learning certain Vedic texts, or else the traditional texts followed by such a school.V. S. Apte. A Practical Sanskrit Dictionary, p. 913, left column.Moni ...

. He was appointed as a ''Pracharak'' in 1954. His first posting as a pracharak was in Raigarh district of

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

(Now Chhattisgarh). In 1964, he was made the

prant A prant is a historical district in India, and a native British Raj age term for a colonial district. The same name can thus have different meanings depending on the period. Pre-colonial Some prants are traditional names for parts of historical ...

pracharak of

Madhya Bharat Madhya Bharat, also known as Malwa Union, was an Indian state in west-central India, created on 28 May 1948 from twenty-five princely states which until 1947 had been part of the Central India Agency, with Jiwajirao Scindia as its Rajpramukh. ...

at a fairly young age. In 1969, he was appointed convener of the All-India Organisations' Heads. This was followed by a stint in the North-East (1977) and then, he took over as the chief of the Bauddhik Cell (the RSS think-tank) two years later. In 1990, he was appointed joint general secretary of the organisation. He has the rare distinction of having held both posts of ''sharirik'' (physical exercises) and ''bauddhik'' (intellectual) ''pramukh'' (chief) on different occasions. In January 2009, acknowledging his lifelong selfless social service and his vast contribution in nation-building; Shobhit Institute of Engineering & Technology, Shobhit University, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, conferred upon him Honorary Doctor of Arts (Honoris Causa).

Sarsanghachalak

Sudarshan became ''Sarsanghachalak'' (Supreme chief) of the RSS on 10 March 2000. He succeeded Rajendra Singh (RSS), Rajendra Singh, who stepped down on health grounds. In his acceptance speech, Sudarshan recalled how he was hand-picked to head the Madhya Bharat region. He said though initially he was hesitant to take up the responsibility, the then RSS Sarsanghachalak M. S. Golwalkar helped him to make up his mind. "I was able to discharge my duties because people senior to me fully co-operated with me," he said. A strong votary of swadeshi, he was seen as one of the hard-liners within the RSS. He had often criticised the National Democratic Alliance (India), National Democratic Alliance government in general and the Bharatiya Janata Party in particular for its economic policies. In 2005, his statements suggesting that both Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L. K. Advani step aside and let a younger leadership take charge of the BJP created a rift within the Sangh parivar. He stepped down as Sarsanghachalak on 21 March 2009, due to poor health.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sudarshan, K.S. 1931 births 2012 deaths Sarsanghchalaks People from Raipur, Chhattisgarh Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh sanghchalaks Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh pracharaks