A release issued by the RSS on Thursday had said the agenda of the four-day meeting included a discussion of Sangh volunteers' response to the coronavirus pandemic and preparations to face a possible third wave, among other things.
This time Modi has no emotive message to take to the stump. Muscular nationalism doesn't work against the backdrop of China's successive inroads into Indian territory. Rising prices is a sore point that cuts across class and caste barriers; unprecedented levels of unemployment has the youth in a ferment. This has reduced the BJP campaign to a laundry list of recycled grievances and thinly veiled communal appeals, neither of which are working as well as they have in the past, argues Prem Panicker.
The stringent National Security Act (NSA) has been invoked against two people lodged in jail for allegedly burning photocopies of extracts from the Ramcharitmanas, officials said on Monday.
In the last 9 years, the BJP govt has marked some anniversaries and events with more zeal than Congress-led governments.
70-plus years after Independence, 'Hindu India, metamorphosised as 'Hindutva India', is proving the British right -- and for all the wrong reasons. Mohan Bhagwat should have answers for the why of it, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'In India, legal advocates and faith leaders from across the country's diverse religious communities condemned a case of extreme hate speech against Muslims in the city of Haridwar, calling for the country to uphold its historical traditions of pluralism and tolerance'
'We are seeing an era where only what Modi wishes is going to happen.' 'A clear message has now been sent to others that if this fate could befall on Nitin Gadkari, then just think what could happen to lesser mortals.'
A simulated security scare situation was created wherein four "terrorists" entered the RSS building, the official said late night.
He criticised Uddhav Thackeray for not giving time to meet his supporters and leaders.
What some of our leaders were up to over the weekend.
'We are very close to become a theocratic State where Hinduism is the official religion of the government.'
In shocking revelations, Swami Aseemanand claims though RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat was not directly involved with the terror strikes, he was aware that such attacks were being planned. Vicky Nanjappa finds out more
Mukherjee's mortal remains were brought to his residence, 10, Rajaji Marg, earlier on Tuesday from the army hospital where he breathed his last on Monday.
Likening India's progress to that of a vehicle that only has accelerator and no brakes, the RSS chief said those trying to stop it will either step aside or be eliminated.
Citing that many Muslims fought in Mewar king Maharana Pratap's army against Mughal emperor Akbar, Bhagwat suggested that in India's history people from all faiths stood together whenever there was an attack on the country's culture.
Several BJP leaders in the past have raised a demand for changing the name of the country from "India" to "Bharat".
The fact that the responses from the community to Mohan Bhagwat's remarks have ranged from guarded optimism to outright disbelief tells its own story, points out Kanika Dutta.
Terming the reports in the media as attempts to deliberately bring a bad name to the nation and the organization in particular, RSS spokesperson Ram Madhav said, "Mohan Bhagwat ji never said what has been attributed to him. The RSS firmly believes that marriage is religious in nature. It is sacrosanct. We are not against women taking part in the uplift of the country."
"He was an icon of the Indian history and will remain so. There can be a difference of opinion about him, but to look down on him as inferior is not appropriate and justifiable. He was a freedom fighter and a staunch nationalist, but people who follow the Marxist and Leninist ideology are the ones who accuse Savarkar of being a fascist...," Singh said, adding that the hatred towards Savarkar is illogical and unplaced.
What were our political leaders up to on the weekend?
When Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi's name was floated as Venkaiah Naidu's successor as vice president, the RSS instead suggested Jagdeep Dhankar, indicating that he was also Mohan Bhagwat's choice, states Prakash Bhandari.
What some of our leaders were up to on Thursday and Thursday.
The event brings to fruition the Bharatiya Janata Party's 'mandir' movement that defined its politics for three decades and took it to the heights of power.
Jaffer said minorities should not have any fear or crisis of confidence over Bhagwat's name being considered for the coveted post.
Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, he said, 'We will not allow reservation to be done away with, no matter how much Modi Ji or Mohan Bhagwat dream of it.'
Former President A P J Abdul Kalam had once cancelled his visit to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh headquarters in Nagpur for an event after friends warned him that he would be labelled as an "RSS sympathiser", claims a new book, Kalam: The Untold Story.
The opinion piece added that the party combines the most striking principles of three major political entities in the world -- the Likud Party of Israel, the Communist Party of China and the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt.
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.
What the INDIA alliance needs is neither a counter to Modi's tall personality and undiminished charisma nor a counter-narrative to his Hindutva agenda, now centred on the Ayodhya temple consecration on January 22, argues N Sathiya Moorthy.
"Chakraborty has been given a 'Y+' cover and armed CISF commandos will accompany him during poll campaign in West Bengal," a senior officer said.
'We need to instill pride in Hindu girls and boys for ourselves, our religion and respect towards our tradition of worship'
'He was a nobody then.' 'And whatever little his contribution was there, it was restricted to Gujarat.'
Amidst the fanfare over Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's plans to celebrate Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's birth anniversary in Kolkata on January 23, his daughter Anita Bose-Pfaff has said that the organisation's ideology and the nationalist leader's ideas of secularism and inclusiveness are 'poles apart and do not coincide'.
'We have devotion towards Gyanvapi so doing something as per that, it's all right. But why look for a Shivling in every masjid?'
Speaking at an event in Mumbai organised by Pune-based Global Strategic Policy Foundation, he said 'sane' Muslim leaders should stand firmly against fundamentalists and added the minority community does not have to fear anything in India as Hindus don't hold enmity towards anyone.
A complete lockdown will be imposed in Nagpur City police commissionerate area from March 15 to March 21 over the spread of Covid-19, the administration has announced.
"It is necessary for all to oppose this together," RSS spokesperson Sunil Ambekar said.
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.
Invitations are being extended to several people who have been part of this temple movement including BJP leaders L K Advani, Murali Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti, Mishra said. Kameshwar Chaupal, another trustee of the temple, said top leaders of the RSS including its chief Mohan Bhagwat and general secretary Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi are also being invited for the event along with VHP's working president Alok Kumar.
"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.
