Senior BJP leader L K Advani today met RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and discussed in detail the reasons behind the party's defeat in Lok Sabha elections and strategies for its revival.
'Maharashtrians are facing a dual battle -- numerical battle with North Indians and financial battle with Gujaratis and Marwaris.' 'This has created anxiety about survival and ownership over Mumbai and Maharashtra.'
Pingle, who hailed from Nagpur, had worked closely with RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar.
Former Union minister C K Jaffer Shareif, in a letter to Mukherjee, expressed surprise over the move and said he like other secular people was 'stunned' to hear about his attending the RSS function.
According to insiders, their lack of enthusiasm is showing on the ground. There is nothing to suggest that their enthusiasm will return in the final four phases of polling, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief K S Sudarshan died in Raipur, Chhattisgarh on Saturday after suffering a heart attack.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said his party was fighting the 'Bharatiya Janata Party, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Indian state itself', triggering a row with the BJP alleging that everything the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha does or says is in the direction of breaking India and dividing the society.
Leaders of the Sangh Parivar and the BJP met in Delhi on Thursday morning to sort out the differences.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday met Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh top brass, including its chief Mohan Bhagwat, but brushed aside suggestions that the issue of projecting him as prime ministerial candidate for 2014 general elections was discussed.
'It is our right to not go there and pay a visit. It is the prerogative of every party on whether to visit a particular place or not'
"In India, we derive our strength from tolerance, and respect our pluralism. We celebrate our diversity," he said.
Launching a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party in light of its high-profile leaders visiting the RSS headquarters in Nagpur of late, Congress today said the saffron party was working as a "call centre" of RSS to hardsell "product" Narendra Modi ahead of 2014 elections.
Madhya Pradesh Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Vijay Shah has sparked a major controversy with objectionable comments that appeared to be directed at Colonel Sofia Qureshi, whom he tried to project as a 'sister of terrorists'.
He arrived at the RSS headquarters in Mahal area in Nagpur around 9.25 pm and left after one and a half hours.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said the arrest of Kurulkar is a "very serious matter" and alleged that it exposes the "anti-national face" of the RSS.
Seshadri's book holds Patel and Nehru responsible for partition, which is what Jaswant Singh has done in his book, Jinnah: India, Independence, Partition. And since both the books come to the same conclusion, people argued that the Gujarat Government should ban Seshadri's book as well.
Speaking at an event in Nagpur, he also said the 'Akhand Bharat' or undivided India will become a reality before today's youngsters become old, as those who separated from India in 1947 are now feeling that they made a mistake.
The BJP has lauded the extradition of Tahawwur Rana, a key accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, as a testament to "New India's" zero-tolerance stance against terrorism under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, the Congress has countered the claim, stating that the extradition was the result of diplomatic efforts initiated during the UPA government's tenure. The BJP highlighted Rana's return as a tribute to security personnel who lost their lives fighting Pakistan-sponsored terrorism and a step towards justice for victims of the attack. The Congress, however, asserted that the Modi government did not initiate the extradition process but benefited from the UPA's groundwork. The exchange of accusations has added a political dimension to Rana's extradition, with both parties vying for credit for the development.
'For the last 10 years the Congress made the RSS an idea of intolerance, anti-minority, especially anti-Muslim, and an idea of fascism.' 'That has been demolished now by Pranab Mukherjee.'
The Nagpur Anti Terrorism Squad unit has arrested a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist from Jammu and Kashmir who had allegedly conducted a recce of Dr Hedgewar Smriti Bhawan of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in Nagpur, Maharashtra, last year, an official said on Wednesday.
The birth anniversary of Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, whose political influence has surged with the passage of time, on Monday was marked by bitter trading of charges between the ruling BJP and opposition parties as they fought for his legacy.
They were convicted under various sections of TADA and IPC.
A delegation of Congress leaders met EC officials and raised several issues, including the use of pictures and large cut-outs of the prime minister in government buildings and colleges and demanded that those be removed to maintain a level-playing field in the upcoming parliamentary election.
'Mohan Bhagwat's reaffirmation of the RSS's Hindu rashtra ideal has shown that nothing has changed, that it remains firmly rooted in its fundamental beliefs, that the willingness to listen to voices from outside its fold was a pretence about being openminded,' argues Amulya Ganguli.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi held a closed-door meeting with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat and General Secretary Bhaiyyaji Joshi, his first interaction with the top Sangh leadership after his elevation in the Bharatiya Janata Party.
To me he always symbolised the sincere, confident, face of a Bharat whose rise is unstoppable. Ratan Tata was a Rishi who was unquestioningly trusted by people who never saw him and never met him, asserts Tarun Vijay, the former BJP MP.
The RSS has accused CPI-M workers of 'carrying out' the attack.
Hailing the Bharatiya Janata Party's Delhi assembly polls victory as 'historic', Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched a stinging attack on the Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress, saying the country needs a serious political transformation and not politics of 'dhoort-ta (deceit) and moorkhta (foolishness)'.
Sharmistha Mukherjee disapproved of his decision, saying he was giving the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Sangh a handle to plant false stories, as his 'speech will be forgotten' but the 'visuals will remain'.
Indications that Gandhi could be invited came on a day the RSS criticised him for drawing parallels between the Sangh and Islamic radical outfit Muslim Brotherhood.
Rahul Gandhi made the statement on January 15, 2025, during the inauguration of the Congress Party's new headquarters at Kotla Road in Delhi.
Before the violence and rioting that erupted in Nagpur on Monday, March 17, over Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's tomb came provocative statements from various political leaders.
The Sena leader further said the RSS's agenda behind inviting Mukherjee as the chief guest to one of its event, held in Nagpur on June 7, would only be clear after the 2019 general elections.
'Undeniably, Modi's position has stabilised and he has staged a comeback of sorts from the weeks after the Lok Sabha results.' 'Coalition partners are likely to be more tolerant of Modi... The forthcoming elections in Delhi and Bihar will determine whether this continues or not.' 'To win Delhi and Bihar, Modi will have to work in conjunction with the RSS.' 'However, because of the 'truce' that has been worked out within the Sangh Parivar, Modi will have to be more consultative than he has been in the past ten years,' reveals Modi biographer Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday returned to power in Delhi after more than 26 years to sweep away the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party with a two-thirds majority on the back of a hyper localised campaign and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'AAP-da'(disaster) blitzkrieg.
The RSS, the political fountainhead of the ruling BJP, has been criticised by the Congress and other Opposition over its stand on the national flag.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh office, Keshav Kunj, was abuzz with activity on Sunday as Bharatiya Janata Party leaders kept visiting it ahead of government formation under leadership of Narendra Modi.
'The Congress backstabbed us and the BJP frontstabbed us.' 'This is the only difference between the two parties.'
RSS joint general secretary Manmohan Vaidya, apparently referring to the Congress's Bharat Jodo Yatra, described it as a "political gimmick" that will not serve its stated purpose of uniting masses.
Bhagwat also expressed concern over Bitcoin and OTT platforms and asked the government to take efforts to regulate these things.
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