K. N. Govindacharya, the soft-spoken RSS pracharak who was in ‘90s the media face of the BJP and RSS has still not faded his Charisma. One of the most towering personalities of RSS in the last four decades who entered the political group BJP from the parent organization RSS, Govindacharya had largely succeeded in pulling the support of the people for his party by his persuasive oratory, intellect and simplicity in public appearances which paved the way for the party to come to power at the Centre. That was the time when the BJP leaders were not known for their designer clothes and facial make over before making public appearances. As a matter of fact, a person who once gets to his credit public appreciation by dint of sheer intelligence, profound knowledge, unparallel oratory and simplicity of life-style never loses his charisma without any reason. And, this fits for Govindacharya. People had queued to take a photo or selfie with him during a recent Makar-Sankranti get-together, an annual event which is organized in the Arya-Samaj Mandir in Rajendra Nagar, in New Delhi. The chilling cold of Delhi, couple with drizzling rain did not desist a moderately large crowd to celebrate the Sankranti with their beloved Govindji or Guruji, as he is normally called by his nears and dears . Many towering personalities made their appearance during the celebration, including some of the famous media faces of today associated with BJP. Clearly, Govindacharya still carries his Charisma with him.

 â€œThe idea of Govindacharys’s Swadeshi which very well mingles with the current requirements of remaining Globally relevant needs to be given a serious try”, remarked one of the prominent Supreme Court advocates who is also known for his political and social activism. “Actually this is the same idea which Gandhiji had once promulgated, i.e., self-reliant and self-sufficient village economy coupled with modern technology- driven big industries of large towns”, he further remarked. A village based Swadeshi economy would have also given way to ‘skill development’ with much ease. The late Prime Minister and great economist Manmohan Singh read this writing on the wall and started MANREGA for development of village infrastructure two decades ago, which even the staunch critique of Congress led UPA PM Naredra Modi has also not dared to give a halt. The industrialist-friendly BJP leaders haven’t got as clear idea of this polito-economic strategy of development of Indian economy which Mr. Govindacharya has also conceptualized, and about which he is repeatedly making appeals for the government to follow.

The ‘Rashtriya Swabhiman Andolan’, ‘Bharat Vikash Sangam’ are the concepts which speak volumes as to how this one time great strategist of Bhartiya Janta Party is actively involved in after aliening himself from BJP and the mainstream politics. He advocates  reforms in socio-economic fields by gearing up the traditional Indian economic and social concepts. It may be pointed out that Govindacharya had himself distanced himself from BJP in the year 2000 and went on a sabbatical after some differences with some senior party leaders.

Govindacharya is not only busy in promoting swadeshi model of growth for the Country, but at the same time he is a tech-savvy and well informed tech-influencer. This was more than obvious when he dragged facebook in the Court for matters relating to licence to upload contents in India and submitted before the Delhi Court that facebook had failed to tackle illegal content. He had also filed letter petition on Whats App NSO matters to Supreme Court. His petition to Supreme Court to seek NIC-based infrastructure for video-conferencing by judiciary and government departments was considered a very far-sighted concept, which has partly taken shape also in different forms after the Corona pandemic.

It would be incorrect to write him off from the political activism totally. Every now and then he has been vocal in both appreciating and criticizing the governments on different counts. If one the one hand he once praised the Modi government for taking a U-turn on land bill, and appreciated PM Naredra Modi’s stand on WTO on food, on the other hand he had criticized the government on several counts like demonetization, alliance with PDP in J&K and several other issues. He remains a straight-forward talker, come what may, with intending to build the institutions morally and intellectually strong to deliver for the public good.

"Still much has to come out from Guruji despite his advanced age”, was the comment of a RSS connected lawyer of Supreme Court who hails from Samastipur, Bihar. Govindacharya himself told this writer that he is busy now in creating a group of devoted and dedicated group of individuals across the country who would propagate his swadeshi model of growth in the country coupled with strengthening Indian culture and value system in the institutions.

As a matter of fact there is no retirement age for a social and political activist, and octogenarian politicians and social activists are widely active both in India, and abroad. The only consideration being they keep good health. And, a disciplined RSS pracharak usually defies age. Rightly remarked in this famous couplet about Govindacharyaji, a lady teacher of DAV who was present in the Makar Sankranti celebration, “Jaane Kitini Udan Baaki hai, Eis Parinde Mei Jaan Baaki Hai” ( Who knows how much flight this bird will cover, as much life is left in it).

The writer is an advocate in Jharkhand High Court and a social & political activist. Views expressed are personal.