In a first as PM, Modi may visit RSS Nagpur headquarters, hold talks

Madhav Netralaya issued a press release Monday that said, as per a PTI report, that apart from PM Modi, the foundation-laying event will be attended by Bhagwat, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union minister Nitin Gadkari.

The meeting between Modi and Sangh leaders assumes significance as the BJP is set to get a new national president soon, who would lead the party into the next round of state elections, starting this year and lasting through 2026.

Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls last year, the Modi government’s ties with the BJP’s ideological parent were seen as strained. In an interview with The Indian Express on May 17, current BJP president J P Nadda, responding to a question on how the RSS relations with the party had changed between Atal Bihari Vajpayee as PM and Modi, had said: “Shuru mein hum aksham honge, thora kum honge, RSS ki zaroorat padti thi… Aaj hum badh gaye hain, saksham hain… toh BJP apne aap ko chalaati hai (In the beginning, we would have been less capable, smaller and needed the RSS. Today, we have grown and we are capable… so the BJP runs itself). That’s the difference.”

For many in the Sangh, this was a signal from the Modi-led BJP which, as it is, is less beholden to the RSS compared to its predecessors, given Modi’s own popularity.

While leaders of both the BJP and RSS maintained that the issues were mainly owing to a communication gap and that these had been resolved, the Sangh keeping a distance from the party during campaigning was believed to have been one of the reasons for the BJP performing below expectations and ending way short of a majority.

After the elections, the BJP leadership had put in extra efforts to close the gap, ensuring that the Sangh put all hands on deck for the crucial state elections which followed. The BJP pulled off two near-impossible wins – Haryana and Maharashtra – and a big one, in Delhi.

Modi’s meeting with the Sangh top brass at the RSS headquarters could be another step to tie any loose ends. A previous meeting of a similar nature happened back in September 2015, when Modi and Bhagwat attended a coordination committee meeting of 93 top RSS-BJP leaders in the national capital.

In recent days, the PM has made a point of praising the RSS, lauding its “commitment to national causes” and “the dedication of its volunteers”. In his podcast with MIT researcher Lex Fridman, posted on Sunday, Modi said an organisation such as the Sangh was unique and likely didn’t exist anywhere else in the world. “Through the RSS, I found a life of purpose,” he said.

Last month, speaking at the inaugural function of the 98th Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan, Modi credited the RSS with keeping alive India’s great traditions and culture among the new generation.