Film folk like Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Shilpa Shetty, Karan Johar, Vicky Kaushal and Pritam attend RSS' centenary celebrations in Mumbai.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh celebrated its centenary on Vijayadashami at the Reshimbagh ground in Nagpur on October 2. RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat led the occasion with former President Ram Nath Kovind as the chief guest.
A timeline of key events that shaped the RSS' journey, including the various highs and lows, as the organization approaches its 100th anniversary.
'The RSS, that advocated military strength, remained in the ideological doghouse for over half a century. Many of the RSS' responses even today carry the burden of this past,' points out Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The future of India will be shaped and decided by the choices the RSS makes now, argues Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
In a question-answer session lasting two-and-a-half hours, Bhagwat responded to questions ranging from Manusmriti to AI, tariffs to caste, education, patriotism, national language, Partition, illegal immigration, attacks on Muslims, and the age of retirement for politicians.
All along, we were told SIR was an essential exercise carried out as part of the Election Commission's regular duties. But now that the ideological mentor of the ruling party has declared that SIR is a means of detecting infiltrators, one understands the unseemly haste with which it is being carried out, notes Jyoti Punwani.
'We have asked the police to verify whether the RSS is a registered organisation. If they are not registered, then specific action should be taken against them.'
From a modest start with baithaks of a handful of swayamsevaks in a small town in Nagpur, the RSS, which completes 100 years of its foundation on Thursday, has come a long way to become the world's biggest voluntary organisation with a pan-India presence, shaping the country's political and social discourse.
During the visit, the PM will lay the foundation stone of the extension building of Madhav Netralaya Premium Centre, he said.
'...to build a consensus, not conflict or struggle.'
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh will mark its centenary year with events beginning from Vijayadashami on October 2, which will include an address by its chief Mohan Bhagwat in the presence of former president Ramnath Kovind who will be the chief guest.
Bhagwat's 'retirement at age 75' comment lands just as he and Modi near that mark -- sparking whispers of retirement, rifts, and reshuffles.
'It is something like traditional Indian families.' 'The family might be run by younger people, but if the patriarch says that you should consider someone for some task, it is very difficult for the others to ignore it.'
Praising Mohan Bhagwat for his intellectual depth and empathetic leadership, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that his tenure as the head of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh since 2009 will be considered the most transformative period in its 100-year journey.
'This is just the beginning. You have to wait and watch to see things getting better.'
Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal wrote to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Wednesday, seeking answers to five questions on the Bharatiya Janata Party's politics and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's actions.
Maharashtra Deputy CM Eknath Shinde launched a veiled attack on Uddhav Thackeray, invoking characters from a film to criticize Thackeray's leadership and policies ahead of upcoming municipal elections. Shinde highlighted government initiatives and defended his position, while also criticizing the opposition's performance.
The BJP's constitution mandates that the party should complete the process of electing block, district and state chiefs before it elects its national president.
'Mohanji is a living example of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, showing that when we rise above boundaries and consider everyone as our own, it strengthens trust, brotherhood and equality in society.'
The Calcutta High Court has granted conditional permission to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to hold a rally in West Bengal's Purba Bardhaman district on February 16, despite objections from the state government. The court allowed the event, which will be addressed by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, on the condition that the organizers keep the crowd size and sound levels under control and ensure that students taking secondary exams are not disturbed. The event will be held at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) complex, which is located in a remote area and away from any schools.
On Friday, March 21, 2025, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat inaugurated the three-day meeting of Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha, the Sangh's top decision-making body.
'The move to appoint a person with a profile, markedly lower than the leader Nitin Nabin will replace, has the potential to put the brakes on the careers of several others in the party and government in the positions they currently hold,' points out Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
'This will be a close election. At least now, it appears that the NDA has an edge.'
'Modi's charisma may have weakened as last year's Lok Sabha poll results showed but in the eyes of the Sangh Parivar, it has not waned.' 'Minus a strong BJP government at the Centre for another decade and more, there is apprehension that an anti-Hindutva government could reverse many of the ideological gains that the Modi dispensation has achieved through its three terms,' points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
He won two terms in office, which was a stunning feat for a leader who used his silence as the most vocal weapon to change the economy and the lives of a billion people, asserts Tarun Vijay, former BJP MP and former Chief Editor, Panchjanya, the RSS weekly.
In the last 11 years, India and the world witnessed what he stood for, what he promised and did not deliver, and what he actually stood for and practised without fearing how history would judge him. Modi's tenure has been punctuated with headline-grabbing decisions, symbolic gestures, and stage-managed moments that continue to define his leadership and India's politics, points out Ramesh Menon.
Let there be no doubt that Modi in these 24 years so far has reshaped politics and governance considerably, if not completely, asserts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author, Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday visited Dr Hedgewar Smruti Mandir in Nagpur and paid tributes at memorials dedicated to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, and second sarsanghchalak (chief) M S Golwalkar.
The RSS wants to transform society and believes that victory of society must not be judged on wealth creation but religion, he said.
Occasional lovers' tiffs have marked the history of RSS-BJP relations. To think that Nagpur will bring about any change in leadership is a misreading of both its intent and its power, points out Shekhar Gupta.
'Mr Modi has the power and pre-eminence in the BJP-RSS to choose how long he wants to serve, and he is definitely going to want to contest in 2029.' 'He will only be 79, as old as Donald Trump now, and fitter,' observes Shekhar Gupta.
The RSS has decided that this year the festive occasion will only be addressed by RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat and not by chief guests.
BJP and RSS leaders are once again pushing to remove the words 'secular' and 'socialist' from the Constitution's Preamble, showing a deeper effort to change India's identity from a diverse, multi-religious republic to a Hindu-first nation, even though they don't have the numbers in Parliament to officially change the Constitution, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat -- arguably, the third most powerful person in the ruling dispensation -- on Monday, December 20, met the Dalai Lama at Gaden Phodrang, his home in Mcleodganj, Himachal Pradesh.
>Legends from music, drama, art and social work were felicitated at the Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Smruti Pratishthan awards on Wednesday, April 24, night.
>Legends from music, drama, art and social work were felicitated at the Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Smruti Pratishthan awards on Wednesday, April 24, night.
The prolonged delay over electing J P Nadda's successor possibly stems from the RSS leadership wanting a person who is at least equidistant from the Sangh as well as the Modi/BJP edifice, observes BJP-RSS watcher Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Bharatiya Janata Party Tuesday reached a truce with sulking patriarch L K Advani who agreed not to press for his resignation from key party posts after Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh intervened to end the two-day crisis triggered by his opposition to Narendra Modi's elevation.
Only in the event of the RSS managing to force Modi into accepting a consensual candidate, will the party not continue to 'being' the 'next Congress', observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
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