The celebrations couldn’t have been more timely. Coming as it does when the BJP-led Government is celebrating five years in the saddle and over two decades in existence. It’s payback time now. And the I&B Ministry is rising to the occasion.After authoring BJP ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhyay’s memoirs, the ministry has turned its attention to RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar and the Publications Division (one recommended for immediate closure by the Geethakrishnan Committee set up by the Finance Ministry) has been directed to bring out a book to coincide with his 112th birth anniversary.Unlike the multi-volume series planned on Upadhyay, Hedgewar’s book is a modest venture. One volume, 21 chapters and 220 pages, under the Builders of Modern India Series, Hedgewar’s authorised biography by Delhi University professor of Political Science Rakesh Sinha will be released in the first week of April, coinciding hopefully with his birth anniversary. It is learnt that RSS chief K.S. Sudarshan is likely to release the biography in a ceremony aimed at extracting maximum mileage.The book, along with others planned in the series, will be produced from the Rs 60 lakh that the Division gets as annual budget allocation. An official from the Division said they were waiting for the Ministry to finalise the date of the release. Formal beginning of the Sangh took shape in Hedgewar’s home, where training in khaki shirt/shorts and cap was the order of the day.
