Nagpur, August 15: With the rise in popularity of Hindutva ideology in the last 10 years, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has grown steadily and the RSS shakhas and membership had doubled. As per an official of RSS, the jump in the membership is not because of Bharatiya Janata Party's Lok Sabha Electoral win in 2014 and 2019.

Staring the minutes of the rise of members and Shakhas, national publicity chief of the RSS Arun Kumar said, as quoted by The Hindu, "The organisation is growing at an annual rate of 20-25 per cent. RSS activists now run 50,000 daily shakhas and 10,000 IT (Information Technology) milan (meetings) on a weekly basis exclusively for urban professionals." Independence Day 2019: Mohan Bhagwat Lauds Article 370 Revocation, Says Kashmir Now as Much Free as Maharashtra

Adding more, he said, "Five to six lakh people attend the daily shakhas. Both the shakhas and the membership doubled." Claiming that the participation and congregation are increasing, Kumar said, "We can say the participation and the number of the weekly congregation is increasing. However, the participation in daily (shakhas) remains steady — neither increasing nor decreasing."

Providing details on being obstructed during the Left’s time than the TMC’s in West Bengal, the RSS leader said, "Society is accepting RSS and it is growing. More than 1,00,000 youth are training under various modules of the RSS and about 40 lakh people are attached to the monthly activities."

Earlier in the day, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said that Narendra Modi government's decision to modify Article 370 to revoke the special status provided to Jammu & Kashmir gave every Indian the opportunity to enjoy 'complete freedom'.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 15, 2019 10:12 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).