Seshadri Ramanujan Chari is an Indian politician, journalist, author and strategic and foreign policy analyst. Chari is a ''
swayamsevak'' of the
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( ; , , ) is an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organisation. The RSS is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar (Hindi for "Sangh family" ...
(RSS). Chari currently serves on the National Executive Committee of the
Bharatiya Janata Party
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...
(BJP) and formerly served as head of the Foreign Affairs Cell at BJP headquarters. Seshadri Chari has also been a consultant on governance with the
United Nations Development Program
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...
(UNDP), posted at
Juba, South Sudan
Juba () is the capital and largest city of South Sudan. The city is situated on the White Nile and also serves as the capital of the Central Equatoria State. It is the world's newest capital city to be elevated as such, and had a populatio ...
.
Early life and education
Born in Matunga,
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
(then
Bombay
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
) on April 2, 1953 to father Ramanujan Chari and mother Kalyani,
Tamil Brahmin
Tamil Brahmins are an ethnoreligious community of Tamil-speaking Hindu Brahmins, predominantly living in Tamil Nadu, though they number significantly in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, in addition to other regions of India, as wel ...
s from
Tanjavur
Thanjavur (), also Tanjore, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is the 11th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of South Indian religion, art, and architecture. Most of the Gr ...
, Seshadri Chari is one of five children. While his father worked for Sri Ram Mills and Hindustan Polymers, he was also active in the local
Congress Party
The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...
, it was his mother who had great influence on his growing years. A young Seshadri started going to
RSS Shakha
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( ; , , ) is an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organisation. The RSS is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar (Hindi for "Sangh family") ...
at an early age of four but became active only in his teens. As a ''Mukhya-Shikshak'' of a
RSS Shakha
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( ; , , ) is an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organisation. The RSS is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar (Hindi for "Sangh family") ...
largely attended by daily wage earners from
Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
, he was also active in the labour union led by
CPM CPM may refer to:
Advertising
*Cost per mille, the advertising cost per thousand views
*Cost per impression, Cost per thousand impressions, the online advertising equivalent
Management
*Certified practising marketer, a qualification for Australi ...
leader
Ahilya Rangnekar. This association brought him close to Mr. Rangnekar and
comrade B. T. Ranadive with whom he would engage in political and ideological discussions. One of his uncles S. T. Chary, who was a close associate of
V.K Krishna Menon and an admirer of
Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian Anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat—
*
*
*
* and author who was a central figure in India du ...
, fine-tuned his journalistic aspirations.
A debater and student activist a
Chinai College of Commerce and Economics Mumbai University
The University of Mumbai is a collegiate, state-owned, public research university in Mumbai.
The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. Ratan Tata is the appointed ...
, Chari became be part of the
RSS
RSS ( RDF Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication) is a web feed that allows users and applications to access updates to websites in a standardized, computer-readable format. Subscribing to RSS feeds can allow a user to keep track of many di ...
sponsored anti-
Emergency
An emergency is an urgent, unexpected, and usually dangerous situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment and requires immediate action. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening ...
underground movement ''Lok Sangharsh Samiti.'' He offered ''satyagrah and'' was imprisoned at Arthur Road Jail.
He earned his B.Com, LLB and MA (History) degrees from the University of Bombay.
He was awarded PhD by Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) for his thesis on "Regional Dynamics of Indo-Pacific Region and Implications of China's Influence in India's Extended Neighbourhood".
Political career
Post
Emergency
An emergency is an urgent, unexpected, and usually dangerous situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment and requires immediate action. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening ...
, he became a ''
pracharak
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( ; , , ) is an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organisation. The RSS is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar (Hindi for "Sangh family") ...
,'' first in
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
Mahanagar and then
Thane
Thane (; also known as Thana, the official name until 1996) is a metropolitan city in Maharashtra, India. It is situated in the north-eastern portion of the Salsette Island. Thane city is entirely within Thane taluka, one of the seven talukas ...
. In 1988, he was transferred to the
BJP
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...
where he became the general secretary of the
BJP
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
unit.
Chari rose to prominence as editor of the RSS's weekly journal ''Organiser''. He wrote extensively during his incumbency from 1992 to 2004.
In 2007, Chari was president of the Party Worker Training Cell of the RSS
where he was considered a moderate.
Seshadri Chari is currently engaged as Director (International Affairs), Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), Director, Forum for Strategic & Security Studies (FSSS), Secretary-General, Forum for Integrated National Security (FINS),
Non-officio member, Research and Information Systems for developing countries, and is also the Director of Chronicle Society of India for Education & Academic Research (CSIEAR), a high –profile NGO actively engaged in promoting educational activities and conducting significant research in areas like Pluralism and Democracy, Conflict Resolution, Role of religion in fostering communal harmony. He is also the Vice-President for the Society for Consumers' and Investors' Protection.
Bibliography
*
*
References
External links
BJP official website*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chari, Seshadri
Living people
1953 births
Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Maharashtra
People from Mumbai
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh pracharaks