Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) headquarters in Nagpur for the first time as PM, calling the Sangh a “banyan tree of India’s immortal culture and modernization.”
During his visit to Smruti Mandir, which houses memorials of RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar and former chief M.S. Golwalkar, Modi 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,” he wrote, as quoted by PTI.
The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone for the Madhav Netralaya Premium Centre, a new eye hospital, and visited Deekshabhoomi, the site where Dr. B.R. Ambedkar embraced Buddhism in 1956. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari accompanied him during the visit.
Later, Modi will visit the Solar Defence and Aerospace Ltd’s facility to inaugurate a newly built airstrip for UAVs and a live munition and warhead testing facility.
Modi had previously visited the RSS headquarters in 2013 as Gujarat Chief Minister, but this marks his first visit as Prime Minister. The visit comes after reported tensions between the BJP and RSS ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. In an interview with The Indian Express, BJP President J.P. Nadda had stated that the party no longer needed “hand-holding” from the RSS. Since then, both sides have worked to mend ties.
Earlier this year, at the Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan, Modi praised the RSS, saying the organization had inspired “lakhs like me” to dedicate their lives to the nation. His visit to Nagpur is seen as an effort to reaffirm ties between the BJP and its ideological mentor.
