Mohan Bhagwat

Mohan Bhagwat (born 11 September 1950) is the Sarsanghchalak (Chief) of the Hindu nationalist organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) based in India. He was chosen as the successor to K. S. Sudarshan in March 2009.

Early life
Mohan Madhukar Bhagwat was born in a Marathi family in Chandrapur, then Bombay State of India. He comes from a family of RSS activists. His father Madhukar Rao Bhagwat, was the Karyavah (secretary) for the Chandrapur zone and later a Prant Pracharak (provincial promoter) for Gujarat. His mother Malati was a member of the RSS Women’s Wing. Mohan Bhagwat is the eldest son of his parents and has two younger brothers and a sister.

Bhagwat completed his schooling from 'Lokmanya Tilak Vidyalaya' and then the first year of his BSc from the Janata College in Chandrapur. He graduated in Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry from Government Veterinary College, Nagpur. He dropped out of his postgraduate course in Veterinary Sciences and became a pracharak (full-time promoter/worker) of the RSS towards the end of 1975.

Association with RSS
After working underground during the Emergency, Bhagwat became the 'Pracharak' of Akola in Maharashtra in 1977 and rose within the organisation responsible for Nagpur and Vidarbha regions.

He became 'Akhil Bharatiya Sharirik Pramukh,' (in-charge of physical training) for India, 1991 to 1999. He was further promoted as 'Akhil Bharatiya Pracharak Pramukh,' (in-charge of RSS volunteers working full-time for India).

In 2000, when Rajendra Singh and H. V. Sheshadri decided to step down as RSS Chief and General Secretary respectively due to poor health, K. S. Sudarshan was nominated as the new chief and Bhagwat became 'Sarkaryavah,' (General Secretary).

Bhagwat was chosen as the Sarsanghchalak (Chief Executive) of the RSS on 21 March 2009. He is one of the youngest leaders to head the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh after K. B. Hedgewar and M. S. Golwalkar.

In June 2015, due to a high threat perception from various Islamic terrorist organisations, the government of India ordered the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) to provide Bhagwat with round-the-clock protection. At Z+ VVIP security cover, Bhagwat is one of the most protected Indians today.

Awards and recognition
In 2017, the state-run Animal and Fishery Sciences University awarded Mohan Bhagwat with an honorary doctor of science (DSc) degree during its convocation ceremony in Nagpur.

References

Category:Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh pracharaks
Category:Activists from Maharashtra
Category:1950 births
Category:People from Chandrapur
Category:Living people
Category:Hindutva
Category:Sarsanghchalaks