Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar was the second sarsanghchalak or supreme guide of the Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a position he held for thirty-three years. Though he was not its founder, he cast the organization in his own image, and remains to this day the most influential ideologue not only of the RSS but also of all the organizations 'inspired' by it-including the BJP, which led the country's ruling coalition from 1999 to 2004.