Gujarat RSS leader Bhaskarrao Damle dies

Veteran RSS leader in Gujarat, Bhaskarrao Damle, passed away on Sunday late night. Damle had been working in Gujarat since 1952 as Pracharak(outreach worker) of Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh(RSS) and had been staying at RSS headquarter of Gujarat in Ahmedabad.

Damle, 96, was closely attached to the founder of RSS Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgewar and Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar. He had joined RSS in 1942 during Quit India movement before independence and was involved in activities for freedom fight.

Besides Gujarat, he was also active in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. In Gujarat, he worked for Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad, Bhartiya Kisan Sangh and Laghu Udyog Bharti.

The chief minister Vijay Rupani and other senior leaders of RSS and BJP paid homage to Damle on Monday at Hedgewar Bhavan in Ahmedabad. After paying homage, the chief minister also addressed media persons and talked on his contribution to society during his life. “Being the Pracharak of RSS, Damleji worked closely with the youth of Gujarat and made them aware on patriotism and nationalism. He prepared many volunteers for RSS and nation throughout his life and trained them for nation building process. His contribution was like Yagya in which he inculcated Indian values among youth,” Rupani said. 

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“I was one of the you-ngsters who got guidance from Damleji during child-hood and young age. He was one of the foundation stones of RSS and senior leaders of the first generation of Sangh. The loss that Sangh and this nation would bear cannot be compensated,” Rupani added.