NEW DELHI, Dec 19: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ideologue and veteran leader M G Vaidya, who was the organisation’s first spokesperson and editor of its mouthpiece, died in a private hospital in Nagpur on Saturday, his grandson Vishnu Vaidya said. He was 97.
He had recently recovered from Coronavirus infection. His last rites will be performed on Sunday.
Vaidya had become a volunteer of the RSS about two decades after the organisation was set up and remained associated with it for over eight decades to be personal witness to its bans three times, internal conflicts over joining politics, its resurgence and changing power equations with the BJP and finally the saffron party’s storming to power at the Centre in 2014.
A former chief editor of the city-based pro-RSS Marathi daily ‘Tarun Bharat‘, Vaidya became a member of the RSS in 1943 while still in college in Nagpur. Vaidya was also a former Akhil Bhartiya Bauudhik Pramukh of RSS. In January this year, Vaidya triggered a controversy with his demand of dividing Maharashtra into four parts, and came in for attack from various quarters over the demand.
Born in Taroda tehsil in Wardha district, Vaidya was a gold medalist in his Master of Arts course, and taught at the Hislop College in Nagpur from 1949 to 1966 while also being associated with the RSS. He joined the editorial department of Tarun Bharat in 1966. He was a nominated member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council from 1978 to 1984, and also a senate member of Nagpur University.
He wrote several books and also a column in Tarun Bharat for 25 years. He was among the few who witnessed most of the journey of the RSS, from early stages and expansion. Vaidya, who saw all six Sarasangha chalaks of RSS, including RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar is survived by wife Sunanda, three daughters, and five sons including RSS Sah Sarkaryawah (joint general secretary) Manmohan Vaidya.
“MG Vaidya, my father breathed his last today at 3.35 pm at Nagpur after completing 97 years of active, meaningful and inspiring life. He was a veteran journalist, a Hindutva “Bhashyakar” and active Sangh (RSS) Swayamsevak for 9 decades,” Manmohan Vaidya tweeted.
In his condolence message RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat described Vaidya as a multi-faceted personality and an excellent journalist, adding the Sangh has lost a senior figure.
Paying tributes to Vaidya, the Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani said, “Saddened by the demise of Shri MG Vaidya ji – veteran Sangh ideologue. He played a crucial role in the RSS and guided the organisation with his ideas and intellectual thoughts. I pray for the departed soul. My condolences to family members. Om Shanti.”
(Manas Dasgupta)
