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]
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
^"India needs to focus eastward: Ram Madhav". The Hindu. 17 January 2018. The BJP leader also called for support for India's "proactive role in the region", saying New Delhi would not be a "spectator" as China pushed its Belt and Road initiative forward. He called the project a "Neo-Marshall plan" in a veiled reference to the carving up of post-war Europe as akin to Chinese infrastructure projects in Asia and Africa.