By Himanshu Guru: Former Rastriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Chief, K S Sudarshan, who breathed his last on Saturday, was born in Raipur in Chhattisgarh on 18 June 1931. He became ‘Sarsanghachalak’, the supreme chief of RSS on March 10, 2000 succeeding Rajendra Singh and stepped down from the post on 21 March, 2009, due to poor health and Mohan Bhagwat became the new chief.
Sudarshan had started his RSS career early at the age of nine. He completed his Bachelor of Engineering in Telecommunications (Honors) from Sagar University and appointed as a ‘Pracharak’ (propagator) in Raigarh district of the then Madhya Pradesh in 1954 rendering full time service to the organization.
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In 1964, he was promoted as ‘Prant Pracharak’ or Zonal In-Charge Propagator for Madhya Bharat at a fairly young age and in 1969, he was appointed convener of the All-India Organizations’ Heads.
In 1990, Sudarshan was appointed joint general secretary of RSS. He was simultaneously heading two big portfolios – as the physical and intellectual chief then, which is a rare distinction. Sudarshan was a strong supporter of swadeshi, who was seen as one of the hard-liners within the RSS.
In August 2012, Sudarshan had gone missing from his brother’s house in Mysore in Karnataka and found after a five hour search. On 15th Sept 2012, Sudarshan died of heart attack in Raipur. He is survived by a brother. He had been ailing for some time and was under care of an attendant.