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By:

Abhijit Mulye

21 August 2024 at 4:59:11 pm

Bhagwat to outline roadmap for next century

Mumbai: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Sarsanghachalak Dr Mohan Bhagwat will address thousands of volunteers and key political observers at Reshimbagh grounds in Nagpur tomorrow at 7.40 am on the occasion of Vijayadashami, formally concluding the organisation’s centenary-year celebrations. He is expected to deliver an ideological and operational blueprint intended to recalibrate Hindu society, counter ongoing opposition mobilisation across India, and outline internal organisational changes...

Bhagwat to outline roadmap for next century

Mumbai: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Sarsanghachalak Dr Mohan Bhagwat will address thousands of volunteers and key political observers at Reshimbagh grounds in Nagpur tomorrow at 7.40 am on the occasion of Vijayadashami, formally concluding the organisation’s centenary-year celebrations. He is expected to deliver an ideological and operational blueprint intended to recalibrate Hindu society, counter ongoing opposition mobilisation across India, and outline internal organisational changes through a wide-ranging policy address. The annual Vijayadashami address, historically the most definitive forum for the RSS chief to articulate the organisation’s stance on domestic policy, cultural objectives and global affairs, carries heightened significance this year. Marking the completion of 100 years since Dr K.B. Hedgewar founded the organisation on Vijayadashami in 1925, Bhagwat’s address is designed to chart the strategic framework for the RSS as it enters its second century. Over the past 12 months, Bhagwat has personally anchored a series of outreach programmes across four Indian metropolitan hubs and two global nerve centres in the United States and Europe, signalling an appetite to project ideological clarity and broaden the organisation’s institutional footprint beyond traditional shakhas. The address comes against the backdrop of sustained street agitations orchestrated by the Congress party and newly formed groups such as the CJP in the national capital and several states. These demonstrations, centred on unemployment, social justice rhetoric and institutional accountability, have explicitly targeted India’s youth demographic — a constituency that has historically formed the primary recruitment pipeline and ideological backbone of the Sangh. Political observers believe Bhagwat will offer an unyielding response to these attempts to disrupt governance and erode the social coalition, reflecting an unmistakable determination within the Sangh Parivar leadership to resist political attrition and mount an active counter-narrative. The diplomatic and constitutional significance of the event is underscored by the deliberate selection of guests. Former Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar and Israel’s Consul General in Mumbai, Yaniv Revach, are attending as special invitees. Revach’s presence hints at possible remarks addressing global geopolitical realignment, the rise of civilisational conflicts, cross-border terrorism and national security challenges. Dhankhar’s attendance provides a platform to reaffirm constitutional patriotism and legislative stability at a juncture marked by sharp parliamentary confrontation. Equally consequential is the invitation extended to Sanjay Gupta, Editor-in-Chief of Dainik Jagran. For an organisation that has historically maintained a measured distance from mainstream media machinery, engaging with the leadership of India’s largest Hindi daily indicates an institutional shift towards proactive public communication. The gesture suggests that the Sangh recognises that narrative warfare in its next century requires strategic engagement with popular media platforms rather than a traditional reliance on insular organisational word of mouth. Beyond external ideological positions, the Nagpur gathering is expected to provide indicators of the structural transitions under way within the RSS. The organisation has been quietly restructuring its administrative echelons, revamping functional wings and adjusting internal deployment models in recent months. With additional leadership realignments slated across key tiers in the near future, Bhagwat’s speech is expected to define the organisational ethos for these generational handovers, emphasising flexibility in outreach while preserving core organisational discipline. As dawn breaks over Reshimbagh, the address will serve both as a balance sheet of a century-old journey and as a declaration of intent for an increasingly combative political era.

Course correction in right-wing ecosystem

Writer: Abhijit Mulye
Abhijit Mulye
Aug 8
3 min read

Mumbai: When Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Sarsanghachalak Dr. Mohan Bhagwat took the stage at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre in Mumbai, the ideological head of the Sangh Parivar delivered an address that left political analysts and attendees alike surprised by its strikingly progressive and youth-centric tone.


Speaking to nearly 2,000 Gen Z and Gen Alpha students at the 15th-anniversary conference of India’s International Movement to Unite Nations (IIMUN), Bhagwat dismantled several rigid perceptions of the RSS. Instead of delivering a dogmatic ideological monologue, he faced a barrage of contemporary questions ranging from student protests and education policy to LGBTQIA+ inclusion and social media. His remarkably candid responses not only validated the anxieties of modern Indian youth but also laid bare a fascinating political subtext, revealing significant divergences from the hardline rhetoric frequently deployed by the ruling BJP.


The most resonant takeaway from the interaction was Bhagwat’s fierce defense of young protesters, a stance that sharply contrasts with the political establishment’s recent playbook. Over the last decade, dissenting students—whether agitating over university policies or recent examination paper leaks—have routinely been discredited by the ruling ecosystem as “anti-national” state adversaries. Bhagwat flatly rejected this framing. He categorically stated that protesting youth are the nation’s own people and the next generation, asserting that they should never be branded as anti-national.


Validating their grievances as genuine, he philosophically redefined protest as a legitimate democratic tool and a form of dialogue meant to build consensus when other communication channels fail. By acknowledging that the current generation is “more honest and sincere” because they demand logical answers rather than blindly deferring to authority, Bhagwat effectively shielded student protesters from the political right’s favourite slur.


Complex Issues

This accommodative tone extended into complex social issues, most notably LGBTQIA+ rights. During the Supreme Court hearings on marriage equality, the Union Government took an aggressively orthodox stance, opposing legal recognition for same-sex couples and dismissing the concept as an urban elitist import. Bhagwat, however, offered a far more nuanced middle ground. While he maintained that the traditional institution of marriage should remain focused on heterosexual couples for societal continuity, he firmly stated that the LGBTQIA+ community is an integral part of society deserving of dignity and respect.


Crucially, he advocated for the creation of a separate legal framework to recognize same-sex companionship, ensuring these couples can live together with social acceptance. Observers point out that this acceptance of a parallel legal framework marks a significant departure from the government’s outright legal blockade, positioning the RSS as a far more pragmatic and adaptable organisation.


Policy Matters

On matters of governance and policy, Bhagwat continued to strike a discordant note with the establishment. Aligning with long-standing academic demands, he threw his weight behind allocating six percent of the GDP to education, explicitly warning that education must not be treated as a commercial business—a quiet but sharp critique of the systemic privatization flourishing under current policies.


He also displayed pragmatism regarding technology and foreign policy. Opposing outright bans on social media, he advocated for cultivating self-discipline and media literacy to combat misinformation. On the geopolitical front, he suggested that while citizens must stand firmly behind the government during conflicts, permanent enmity is never a lasting solution, introducing a layer of diplomatic pragmatism that contrasts heavily with the hyper-nationalistic domestic messaging regarding India’s neighbours.


Political analysts view this Mumbai interaction as a calculated ideological recalibration. The underlying question of why Bhagwat chose this specific platform to voice such progressive views can be answered by looking at the shifting demographic winds. While the BJP operates on the immediate, high-stakes compulsions of electoral victories—often relying on polarization and aggressive rhetoric to consolidate votes—the RSS views itself as playing the long game of civilisational and societal integration.

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