India’s PM Modi makes first visit to RSS headquarters in Nagpur since re-election

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his first visit since re-election to Hindu nationalist group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS) headquarters in Nagpur on Sunday, local media reported.

Several top leaders of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), including Modi himself, cut their teeth at the RSS, whose millions of members conduct paramilitary drills and prayer meetings.

The organisation campaigns for India to be declared a Hindu nation — rather than a secular one, as enshrined in its constitution — and critics accuse it of fomenting sectarian divisions.

RSS foot soldiers had stepped in to help Modi regain momentum in last year’s elections after he faced voter fatigue and some resistance from a resurgent opposition, before eventually being elected as the premier for the third time. Weeks later, India had lifted a decades-old ban on civil servants being members of the far-right RSS.

The visit marks the first time a sitting prime minister has visited the RSS’s central base, according to Times of India and The Print.

However, Business Standard quoted RSS leader Sunil Ambekar as saying that Modi was not the first prime minister to visit the group’s headquarters, as ex-PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee had also done the same during his tenure. NDTV reported the same.

Modi began his day by visiting Smruti Mandir, the memorial of RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar in Nagpur’s Reshim Bagh, to mark his birth anniversary. The Indian premier was accompanied by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, with the two seen having a “casual conversation” on the sidelines, The Print noted.

He also paid a visit to Deekshabhoomi, where Indian leader Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar and his followers embraced Buddhism.

“Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar has given us a constitution that ensures our dignity and equality. For this, generations of Indians will thank him,” the prime minister posted on X.

Modi praised RSS workers for their contribution to humanitarian efforts: “Their selfless services has been evident in times of floods, earthquakes, and most recently, at the Kumbh Mela.

“We move forward with the life mantra of devotion to the nation and duty towards our country. That is why, no matter how big or small the task, in any field, the volunteers of the Sangh (RSS) work selflessly,” he was quoted as saying by Times of India.

“Thank you to the people of Nagpur for their love,” the BJP leader posted on X later in the day.

India becoming voice of Global South: Modi

The Indian prime minister said RSS had now grown into a huge banyan tree symbolising longevity and immortality. “This is not the common tree, it is RSS, India’s banyan tree of immortal culture and modernisation,” The Hindu quoted him as saying.

Modi asserted that his country was moving forward and “breaking the mindset of slavery”. Noting India’s aid efforts for Myanmar in the recent disastrous earthquake that has killed over 1,700, he said India was “becoming the voice of the Global South”.

“Our biggest treasure is youth, risk-taking capacity has increased, innovating new things and making a mark in the world of startups,” Modi said. The prime minister noted that the period from 2025 to 2047 would be crucial for India’s development.

According to The Print, Modi’s visit comes at a time when the BJP leadership has been signalling a truce with RSS, its ideological parent, after reports of some friction last year.

BJP is also in the process of finalising its new national president, the report highlighted, adding that RSS has traditionally played a key role in making the choice.

Nagpur recently got public attention when authorities clamped indefinite curfew on parts of the city after more than a dozen police officers were hurt in clashes sparked by a Hindu group’s demand for the removal of the tomb of 17th-century Mughal ruler Aurangzeb.

During his visit to Nagpur today, Modi also inaugurated several projects.

He laid the foundation stone for the Madhav Netralaya Premium Centre, an extension of the Madhav Netralaya Eye Institute & Research Centre, the Times of India reported.

The Indian premier also inaugurated an airstrip for unmanned aerial vehicles at Solar Defence and Aerospace Limited in Bazargaon near Nagpur, The Hindu said.

It added that Modi was also set to launch development projects related to power, oil and gas, rail, road, education, and housing sectors worth over 337 billion Indian rupees in Chhattisgarh’s Bilaspur.