NAGPUR: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ideologue and organization first spokesperson Madhav Govind Vaidya died here on Saturday after a brief illness, his family said. He was 97 years old.
Vaidya, who had recovered from the coronavirus infection, died in a private hospital in Nagpur, his grandson Vishnu Vaidya he told PTI. The last rites will take place on Sunday.
Vaidya, who became an RSS volunteer nearly two decades after the organization’s inception, had seen it all during his eight-decade association with it: the three bans, the isolation, the internal conflicts over joining politics, the fermentation and resurgence, the changing of power equations with the BJP and the latter’s assault on power at the Center in 2014.
Vaidya, former editor-in-chief of the city-based Marathi pro-RSS daily ‘Tarun Bharat’, became a member of the RSS in 1943 while at Morris College in Nagpur.
He was the first ‘pracharpramukh’ (spokesperson) for RSS, said a former editor of Tarun Bharat. Vaidya was also a former RSS Akhil Bhartiya Bauudhik Pramukh, he added.
In January this year, Vaidya sparked a controversy with her demand to divide Maharashtra into four parts, and was attacked from various quarters for the lawsuit.
Born in Taroda tehsil in Wardha district, Vaidya was a gold medalist in his Master of Arts course and taught at Hislop College in Nagpur from 1949 to 1966, while he was also associated with the RSS.
He joined the Tarun Bharat editorial department in 1966. He was a nominated member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council from 1978 to 1984, and also a member of the Senate of Nagpur University.
He wrote several books and also a column in Tarun Bharat for 25 years. He was one of the few who witnessed most of the RSS journey, from the early stages and expansion.
Vaidya, who saw all six RSS Sarasanghachalaks, including RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, is survived by his wife Sunanda, three daughters and five sons, including RSS Sah Sarkaryawah (Deputy General Secretary) Manmohan Vaidya.
“MG Vaidya, my father breathed his last breath today at 3.35pm in Nagpur after completing 97 years of active, meaningful and inspiring life. He was a veteran journalist, a Hndutva” Bhashyakar “and active Sangh (RSS) Swayamsevak for 9 decades “. Manmohan Vaidya tweeted.
In his message of condolence, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat described Vaidya as a multifaceted personality and an excellent journalist, adding that Sangh has lost an important figure.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said he hoped Vaidya would turn 100, but fate had other plans.
“He had an important contribution to shaping the ideology of the RSS,” tweeted Gadkari, who is also a native of Nagpur.
“Saddened by the disappearance of Shri MG Vaidya ji, veteran Sangh ideologue. He played a crucial role in the RSS and guided the organization with his intellectual ideas and thoughts. I pray for the deceased soul. My deepest condolences to the members of the family. Om Shanti, “Gujarat Prime Minister Vijay Rupani tweeted
.
