Madandas Devi first RSS Sah-Sarkaryawah from ABVP, coordinator between Sangh and Vajpayee’s government, passes away

Along with K N Govindacharya, Devi developed several leaders in the BJP at the national and state levels. Govindacharya had been moved from ABVP to the BJP in 1987, when L K Advani was the president of the party. Govindacharya was later elevated to the position of General Secretary (Organisation), and remained in that position for many years.

The tradition of moving leaders from the RSS to the BJP and from ABVP to RSS (and BJP) dates back to the time of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh, but it was accelerated in the mid to late eighties when Atal Bihari Vajpayee handed over the BJP presidentship to L K Advani, and the RSS under Balasaheb Deoras, along with the entire Sangh Parivar, was trying hard to spread the organisation everywhere.

Under Vajpayee, the BJP since its foundation in 1980 was focussed on “Gandhian Socialism” leaving Hindutva aside, but under Advani, the party returned to its core ideology.

The tradition continued after Govindacharya and Devi as well.

Govindacharya was sent to the BJP from ABVP, and Devi was sent to the RSS from ABVP. Datta Hosabale, the present Sarkaryawah of the RSS, was moved from the ABVP to the RSS, and is now next to Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat after serving as Sah-Sarkaryawah. The latest induction in the RSS at the national level from the ABVP was Sunil Ambekar, who is now Prachar Pramukh of the Sangh.

Since ABVP is an organisation that works among students, there is an age limit of 45 years for its leaders, which is normally followed. After that, its leaders are moved to the RSS, BJP, or other frontal organisations of the Sangh if they want to continue to work. Some of them return to family life.

Madandas Devi had been inactive for the last several years, and was staying at Delhi’s Deendayal Research Institute, or at the homes of some of his well wishers.

He would be visited by his friends and former colleagues from the ABVP, BJP, and other Sangh organisations. He was in Bengaluru for treatment of age-related illnesses, and breathed his last in that city.

On his demise, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, “I am deeply saddened by the demise of Sri Madan Das Devi Ji. He dedicated his entire life to the service of the nation. I was not only closely associated with him but also had the opportunity to learn many things from him. May God give strength to all the workers and his family members in this moment of grief. Om Shanti.”

श्री मदन दास देवी जी के देहावसान से अत्यंत दुख हुआ है। उन्होंने अपना पूरा जीवन राष्ट्रसेवा में समर्पित कर दिया। उनसे मेरा न सिर्फ घनिष्ठ जुड़ाव रहा, बल्कि हमेशा बहुत कुछ सीखने को मिला। शोक की इस घड़ी में ईश्वर सभी कार्यकर्ताओं और उनके परिवारजनों को संबल प्रदान करे। ओम शांति!

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 24, 2023

Devi, a chartered accountant by training who originally belonged to Solapur, from where he had moved Pune for higher education in the early sixties. He joined the ABVP in 1964.

He coordinated between the RSS and BJP when the NDA government headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee was in power. The position is currently occupied by Sah Sarkaryawah Arun Kumar, who succeeded Dr Krishna Gopal. The responsibilities of the position remain the same.

While the present leadership of the RSS is media-shy, Devi never hesitated to meet journalists and share information, even during the Vajpayee government when the RSS had a strained relationship with the government.

During his tenure as the BJP-RSS coordinator, RSS organisations like the Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM) headed by Muralidhar Rao, and the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), which was guided by the late Dattopant Thengadi, were openly critical of the Vajpayee government’s policies.

Thengadi had once said, “Arth mantri anarth kar rahe hain (Finance Minister — Yashwant Sinha — is wreaking havoc).”

Even K S Sudarshan, the then Sarsanghchalak who was Devi’s predecessor as RSS-BJP coordinator, had said, “PMO me kuchh aksham log baithe hain (There are some incompetent people sitting in the PMO).” Sudarshan had targeted Brajesh Mishra, the Principal Secretary to Vajpayee.

However, Rao later moved to the BJP himself, and remains there.