The RSS has decided that this year the festive occasion will only be addressed by RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat and not by chief guests.
'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.
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's visit to a mosque and his meeting with the head of an organisation of imams were not a deviation from the outfit's line, its senior leader Indresh Kumar said on Friday.
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.
'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.
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.
What some of our leaders were up to over the weekend...
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.
RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale met with the leadership of the UP BJP, including Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Deputy Chief Ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak, state BJP President Bhupendra Chaudhary and state BJP General Secretary (Organisation) Dharmapal.
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.
'If the civil code has to be put on hold, what card can the BJP play if it finds the going tough in the run-up to the general election of 2024?' asks Amulya Ganguli.
Immediately following its ban being lifted on July 11, 1949, the RSS began debating entering politics in the pages of its house organ, The Organiser. Thus was born the Jana Sangh/BJP, points out Aakar Patel.Thus Was Born Jana Sangh/BJP, asserts Aakar Patel.
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.
'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'
"The RSS runs nearly 60,000 daily shakhas (branches) across the country and 97.5 per cent shakhas have started functioning again after the easing of COVID-19 related restrictions," joint general secretary Manmohan Vaidya said.
'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.
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.
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 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.
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.
Terror groups are keeping security agencies on their toes in the run-up to Independence Day.
'No one is propagating RSS ideology as a government officer.'
The election took place at the two-day annual meeting of the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha, the Sangh's highest decision-making body that began here on Friday.
A photograph of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat sitting with Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav has set tongues wagging in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, with the Congress taunting that the S in SP means the Sangh.
RSS leader whipped up a political storm for stating that the BJP was restricted to 240 seats, well below the majority mark, in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls, due to its "arrogance".
The New York-based Sikhs For Justice has sought a court order directing US Secretary of State John Kerry to designate the RSS a 'Foreign Terrorist Organisation,' which Preet Bharara says the US government intends to move to dismiss.
Terming as wrong perception that Sangh is ideological founthead of BJP, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday said the essence of its activities is to build a strong India with Hindutva at its core.
What were our political leaders up to on the weekend?
Since 2014, many of Mohan Bhagwat's speeches have acted as cues for government policy.
What some of our leaders were up to over the weekend.
What some of our leaders were up to on Thursday and Thursday.
'We want Muslims to go about their work and business unhindered.' 'They should not get victimised and that will only come through the process of reconciliation.'
Modi's presence at the evnt would open wounds, the Hyderabad MP said.
'Mohan Bhagwat is very upfront with his views and arguments.' 'Mohan Bhagwat is competent to deal with Modi's personality cult.'
'This is the era of images; no speech that Mukherjee could have given could counter the sight of a senior Congressman, elevated by the party to Rashtrapati Bhavan, standing rigidly next to the RSS gerontocracy as those worthies delivered the organisation's faux-fascist salute,' says Mihir Sharma.
The efforts by the organisers to show that the reception for Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Madison Square Garden was an event organised by all sections of the Indian community has led to deep divisions and heartburn among Sangh Parivar organisations in the US.
"It is necessary for all to oppose this together," RSS spokesperson Sunil Ambekar said.
Much depends on the BJP's electoral performance in next year's assembly elections. If the party fares well in UP and some states like Goa and Gujarat, it will be able to fob off the attempt at a reappraisal of its Hindutva doctrine, observes Amulya Ganguli.
'On the one hand it will appeal to pan-Hindu sentiment and on the other opposition to it could well strengthen support for the BJP among Hindu voters.'
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances