Varanasi Ram Madhav (born 22 August 1964) is an Indian politician who served as the National General Secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party.^[2][3] He is a member of the National Executive of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and has authored a few books. His latest is Uneasy Neighbours: India and China after Fifty Years of the War.^[4][5][6]

Early life

Madhav was born in the East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh on 22 August 1964.^[7] Primarily a student of engineering, he earned his Diploma in Electrical Engineering from Andhra Pradesh.^[6] He also has a post-graduate degree in Political Science from the University of Mysore, Karnataka.^[8]

Political career

Madhav's association with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh began as a teenager. He volunteered to be a full-time worker for RSS in 1981. He was assigned to several key positions in the organization.^[9]

He has also been the editor of Bharatiya Pragna, a monthly magazine in English published by Pragna Bharati,^[8] and associate editor of Jagriti, a Telugu weekly.^[10] He worked as a journalist for over 20 years with RSS sponsored publications and has authored more than twelve books. He serves as the Member of the Board of Governors of India Foundation, a New Delhi–based think-tank focused on the issues, challenges, and opportunities of the Indian polity.^[11] He is also a mentor at Vision India Foundation, a New Delhi–based think tank working on public leadership amongst youth^[12][13]

He served as the national spokesperson of the RSS from 2003 to 2014. Madhav was seconded to the BJP and appointed as one of its national general secretaries in 2014.^[9]

External videos
Shri "Ram Madhav joins BJP in the presence of BJP President Shri Amit Shah - 10th July 2014" Bharatiya Janata Party on YouTube

As a General Secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party, he is credited for the rise of the party in North East India and building alliances with regional parties.^[14]

Personal views

Foreign policy

He has called for India to take a more "proactive role in the region" in order to check China's One Belt One Road Initiative.^[15] He was involved in the BJP's entry into the International Democrat Union, a worldwide grouping of right of centre political parties.^[16]

Reception

British anchor Mehdi Hasan's interview

On the talk show called Head to Head in Al Jazeera, a Qatari news channel, anchored by Mehdi Hasan on Hindu Nationalism,^[17] Ram Madhav's statement on 'your' ISIS^[18] to the British anchor with an explanation later published in Indian Express calling it just a slip of tongue ^[19] After the show, the anchor Mehdi Hasan stated that he was being called an ISIS supporter since then by internet trolls.^[20]

Books

• Uneasy neighbours : India and China after 50 years of the war, New Delhi : Har-Anand Publications, 2014, 256 p

Hindutva Paradigm

References

Further reading

• Prashant Jha (16 October 2013). "Sangh's flexibility mantra to rope in youth". The Hindu. Retrieved 13 October 2014.