Mountaineer Santosh Yadav to be first woman chief guest at RSS' Dussehra event in Nagpur

New Delhi, September 15

Mountaineer Santosh Yadav will be the first woman chief guest at the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh’s annual Vijayadashami event this year.

The RSS in a tweet said Padma Shri Santosh Yadav, 54, will grace the Vijayadashami event at the RSS Nagpur headquarters on October 5, with Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat to deliver the Dussehra address.

Satosh Yadav, from Haryana, is the first woman in the world to scale Mount Everest twice and also the first woman to successfully climb Mount Everest from Kangshung Face. She climbed Everest first in May 1992 and again in May 1993.

In the past, late President Pranab Mukherjee has graced the RSS’ Vijayadashmi event as chief guest.

The RSS’ famous shakhas do not have women members.

Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi has often questioned the RSS for not allowing women members.

The RSS, however, has a separate women’s wing called Rashtra Sevika Samiti. Women are also members of other RSS organisations.