Santosh Yadav to be 1st woman chief guest at RSS' Dasehra event

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 will grace the event at the RSS headquarters in Nagpur on October 5, with Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat to deliver the Dasehra address.

Hailing from Haryana, Satosh is the first woman in the world to scale Mt Everest twice (May 1992 and May 1993) and also the first woman to successfully climb Mt Everest from Kangshung Face. In the past, late President Pranab Mukherjee had graced the RSS 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 has a separate women’s wing called Rashtra Sevika Samiti. Women are also members of other RSS outfits.