Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a first time visit to the RSS headquarters in Nagpur on Sunday, said that the RSS was like India’s banyan tree of immortal culture and modernisation.
PM Modi, during his visit to the Smruti Mandir which holds the memorials dedicated to RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, and second chief M S Golwalkar, wrote a message in Hindi in the visitors’ book. “The memorial of the two strong pillars of RSS is an inspiration to lakhs of swayamsevaks who have dedicated themselves to the service of the nation.”
PM Modi also laid the foundation stone of the Madhav Netralaya Premium Centre building and visited Deekshabhoomi, where Dr B R Ambedkar had embraced Buddhism in 1956. He praised the selfless service of RSS volunteers across various spheres and regions of the country, highlighting their role in nation-building, social service, and cultural preservation.
He further said that “…The ideas that were seeded a hundred years back are before the world like a ‘vat vriksh’ today. Principles and ideologies give it heights and the lakhs and crores of swayamsevak are the branches of it”. PM Modi also extended greetings on the occasion of Gudi Padwa to the people.
“Many auspicious festivals are starting. Gudi Padwa, Ugadi, and Navreh festivals are being celebrated in different parts of India. The centenary year of RSS is this year. I got the opportunity to pay tribute at Smruti Mandir. We also celebrated the 75th years of Indian Independence recently. Next month, there is the birth anniversary of BR Ambedkar, I remembered and took blessings at Deekshabhoomi. I want to wish people on Navratri and other festivals,” he added.
Modi had last visited the RSS headquarters in 2013, when he was serving as the chief minister of Gujarat, for a meeting with RSS chief Dr Mohan Bhagwat. He had met the RSS chief seeking his blessings at a time when the majority of BJP Parliamentary Board members were opposing declaring him as Prime Ministerial candidate. Ultimately, with the intervention of Dr Bhagwat, he became the face of 2014 polls.
This is his first as the Prime Minister. The trip gains significance given the tensions witnessed between BJP and RSS in the days leading up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, after the BJP failed to secure an absolute majority in the Lok Sabha. Moreover, soon PM Modi is crossing 75 years old, which was unofficially adopted as the retirement from holding any office both in BJP and also in the RSS.
