RSS has sacked five pracharaks, who were active in central India for a long time, accusing them of having strayed from its core ideology and leading a lifestyle that no longer suited their post. They were also accused of interfering in local politics and one of them charged with financial irregularities.

The five were asked not to attend the meeting of pracharaks that ended in Sehore on Sunday and conveyed that their services were no longer required. Sources told The Indian Express that the Sangh had been watching their activities for quite some time and had even asked them to mend their ways.

The sacked pracharaks include Mahesh Sharma, who as general secretary of Vanvasi Kalyan Parishad is the Sangh’s posterboy in tribal-dominated Jhabua district in its battle against Christian missionaries. Under the Shivganga Abhiyan, hundreds of Shivlings have been installed in villages that set up ponds and check dams to conserve rainwater.

Sharma claimed he had himself requested the Sangh to relieve him of the responsibility. He was accused of interfering in local politics and getting more and more ambitious.

Vaibhav Surange worked in Jhabua for 13 years before being shifted to Hoshangabad two years ago. “I am perplexed,” he said, adding that he would take up the matter with the top Sangh leaders. But, Surange said he was still at the Sangh office in Itarsi and no one had thrown him out.

Manish Kale, a Riwa-based engineer, Anil Daga, who was shifted to Shivpuri from Indore a couple of years ago, and Gopal Deradi, who was posted in Khandwa as Prant Seva Pramukh have also been removed without being given an opportunity to explain their side. All of them were accused of developing a parallel culture that did not gel with the Sangh’s line of thinking.