Pupuji Koul
30th March 2025 is the Red Letter Day for RSS and Nagpur as PM NarendraModi Paid a visit to RSS headquarters and he is the only working prime minister to ever pay a visit to the Office of RSS situated in Nagpur. Modi, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and some other leaders paid a glowing flower tributes to the founder of RSS, Dr Headgwer on his birth anniversary which falls on 30th March Sunday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was in the past a Prachark of RSS and has toured all over India to spread the message of this most nationalistic socio-cultural organization and has strengthened and expanded the RSS Shakhas in various parts of Bharat. Now PM Modi is embarking on his first tour to the headquarters of RSS in Nagpur in thirty years and his very median visit to his mother organization. Political analysts are attaching various meanings to the high profile visit of the prime minister to Nagpur. It is in no way a routine and official and formal visit to RSS headquarters but is very significant politically and as far as the relations between BJP and RSS are concerned. Elaborate security arrangements that is foolproof security bundabast has been made for the visit of Modi to Nagpur. Whole Nagpur has been decorated with Bhagwha /saffron flags like a bride and life size cutouts of Narendra Modi have been put at many places and Nagpur has given a festive look.The visit of Narendra Modi coincides with the festival of GudiPadva which signifies the first day of the new year. In fact Modi has timed his visit on the auspicious occasion of the First Chaitra Navratra which is the Hindu new year day. Different political experts are inferring different meanings to the visit of PM Modi to Nagpur. In fact Modi’s visit to Nagpur will strengthen the relations between BJP and RSS on one side and between RSS and government on the other side.There is much enthusiasm and festivity in and around the RSS headquarters about the visit of prime minister. RSS Volunteers in particular and the people of Nagpur in general where eagerly and anxiously waiting for the visit of PM Modi to Nagpur and all preparations have been made for the successful tour of Modi to Nagpur. Modi’s visit to Nagpur is also significant as there were communal tensions recently in Nagpur on the issue of the grave of the foreign invader and Mugul King Aurangzeb as the Hindu and all nationalist organizations demand digging the grave of this cruel ruler who had heaped immense atrocities on Hindus during his reign. The first ever visit of a prime minister to RSS headquarters assumes special importance given the tensions and some not cordial relations between Sangh and BJP/Modi government. Pertinent to mention is the fact that the course of 2024 parliamentary elections, BJP chief J.P.Nadda has said that BJP is very strong and does not need any support from RSS. This remark of the BJP president has not been taken lightly by the RSS and naturally so.
Thus the visit of Modi to the RSS headquarters is seen as an effort to mend the relations between the BJP/Central government and the RSS.RSS sources have said that the visit of Modi to Nagpur should not be taken as political visit. However the visit of Modi also assumes importance due to the fact that new president of the BJP is to be elected and there are many faces for this august organizational position and the RSS wants Sanjay Joshi to be appointed BJP chief. Thus the visit of PM Modi at this time is significant. PM Modi visited Hedgewar Smruti Mandir in Nagpur and paid tribute at the memorial of RSS founder Keshav Balram Hedgewar and second Sarsanghchalak of RSS.RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat was also present during Modi’s visit to SmrutiMandir in Reshimbagh ,the administrative headquarters of the RSS.Modi’s visit coincides with the Sanghs Pratipada programme ,which marks GudiPadwa ,the beginning of the Hindu new year. The meeting took place among speculations about tensions between the Sangh and the BJP leadership. Political observers see the interaction as significant due to its timing, venue, and purpose. In fact the visit comes as the BJP prepares to elect a new national president ,expected by early April,with party’s national council meeting scheduled in Bangaluru on April 18 to endorse the new leadership.Given the RSS’s influence in selecting the BJP chief ,the meeting in Nagpur -were the Sangh is headquartered and where the event honors M.S .Golwalkar ,revered as ‘Guruji’by the RSS adds to its importance.
The meeting between PM Modi and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat is their first public appearance together since the Ram Mandir consecration in Ayodhya last year.With BJP gearing up for multiple state elections and the 2029 general elections ,this interaction is very significant and is being closely watched as it will have a definite bearing on the relations between BJP and RSS.Describing the prime minister’s visit a ‘very important and historic’one RSS member Seshadari Chari said,’People talk a lot about the relations between RSS and BJP ,before also they talked about it —there is no difference in opinion between the BJP and the RSS.
PM Modi signed visitors book after paying tribute to RSS founder K.B.Hedgewar at RSS Smruti Mandir.PM Modi also paid tribute to Dr B.R Ambedkar at Deekshaboomi ,where the late leader embraced Buddhism with thousands of his followers in 1956.PM Modi’s visit to Nagpur came at a crucial time for the BJP ,which is in the process of electing a new national president.The current BJP chief ,JP Nadda ,has been on an extended term since being inducted into the union cabinet in June 2024.
Pertinent to mention that RSS traditionally played an influential and dominant role in choosing the BJP chiefs ,and the discussions in Nagpur could have a bearing on the party’s leadership transition ahead of 2029 Lok Sabha elections.Earlier PM Modi was received by Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis and union minister Nitin Gadkari at Nagpur airport.
Modi later also laid foundation stone for Madhav Natrayala Premium Centre at Nagpur.
He also visited Solar Defense and Aerospace Limited’s ammunition facility.
PM Modi paid a historic visit to RSS headquarters in Nagpur ,marking the first time a sitting PM has visited the Sangh’s central base.
The meeting with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat comes amid speculations about the relationship between the BJP and its ideological mentor the RSS.
The timing and location of this interaction have added to its significance ,especially with major political developments on the horizon.
The meeting between the two is the their first interaction at the RSS headquarters. The last one -on -one meeting between PM Modi and Mohan Bhagwat took place way back in May 10,2014 in Delhi ,ahead of the LokSabha polls.PM Modi and Mohan Bhagwat shared the stage with Maharashtra CM Fadnavis ,union minister Gadkari, Acharaya Govind Giri Maharaj and some other personalities.
The visit also coincides with the preparations for the RSS’s centenary celebrations set to begin on Vijayadashami this October.
To conclude the visit of PM Modi to Nagpur and the meeting with the RSS chief will benefit the BJP, its government and the RSS itself and so the visit to Nagpur & meeting between Modi and Bhagwat is epoch-making.