Nagpur News: Modi likely to visit RSS HQ on March 30; first visit by any PM

Nagpur News: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit the RSS headquarters in Nagpur, Maharashtra, later this month. This will be Modi's first visit to RSS headquarters since becoming the prime minister in 2014.

The visit is scheduled on March 30, also the first day of the Hindu calender, according to media reports. Modi will be in Nagpur to lay the foundation stone for a building extension at Madhav Netralaya Eye Institute & Research Centre, an institute backed by the RSS, on March 30.

A release from Madhav Netralaya Eye Institute and Research Centre issued on March 17 said the event will be attended by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union minister Nitin Gadkari. The new building will come up on a 5.83 acre plot and will have 250 beds, 14 OPDs and 14 modular operation theatres, the press release added as quoted by news agency PTI.

Modi, Bhagwat to share stage

Modi is expected to share the stage with Bhagwat at the Eye Institute event. This will be the third time that the PM and the RSS chief will share the stage since 2014 and the first time since the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

Modi could visit the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) headquarters in Resham Bagh neighbourhood of Nagpur on the same day, according to a report in the Indian Express. Modi is likely to meet Mohan Bhagwat too at the headquarters, the report said.

RSS is the ideological mentor of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). No Prime Minister of India has ever visited the RSS headquarters in Nagpur.

Modi and Bhagwat are likely to discuss many issues, including the appointment of new BJP President succeeding incumbent JP Nadda, who is also a minister in the Prime Minister's cabinet.

Modi has repeatedly spoken about the influence of the RSS on his life. In his recent podcast with Lex Fridman, the prime minister said the teachings of Ramakrishna Mission, Swami Vivekananda, and the service-driven philosophy of the RSS played a crucial role in shaping him.

“More than anything, the RSS provides you with a clear direction toward what can truly be called a purpose in life. Secondly, the nation is everything, and serving the people is akin to serving God,” Modi told Lex Fridman in the podcast released on Sunday.

Modi was introduced to the RSS at the age of eight and became a full-time worker for the RSS in Gujarat in 1971 when he was 21.