MUMBAI: In an indication of the growing importance of the RSS in Maharashtra politics, almost all BJP and Shiv Sena legislators, including chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde, on Thursday visited the Nagpur headquarters of the right wing organisation. Though deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar stayed away from the visit, two legislators of his party joined the BJP and Shiv Sena leaders.
Mr. Fadnavis and Mr. Shinde along with other ministers and MLAs, Shinde paid homage to RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar and the second ‘Sarsanghachalak’ M.S. Golwalkar.
“This is not the first time I've come to Reshim Bagh; I have visited here before. My connection with the Sangh and the Sangh Parivar dates back to my childhood. I have grown up within the Sangh Parivar,” Mr. Shinde said.
The delegation also included Speaker Rahul Narwekar, Deputy Chairperson of the Legislative Council Neelam Gorhe. Deepak Tamshettiwar, Vidarbha’s ‘prant pracharak’, and other RSS members welcomed the delegation and shared insights about the RSS’s operations and ongoing initiatives.
Mr. Shinde said he started he had joined an RSS shakha before joining the Shiv Sena due to the influence of Balasaheb Thackeray and his mentor Anand Dighe. “The ideologies of the Sangh Parivar and Shiv Sena align closely. We can learn a lot from the Sangh Parivar about working with complete dedication. The volunteers of the Sangh serve without seeking any recognition. The contribution of the Sangh in the service of our country is undeniable. The teachings of the Sangh are those that unite, not divide,” he said.
Calling the RSS Smruti Mandir, which houses the memorials of Hedgewar and Golwalkar, a “holy place”, Mr. Shinde said, “Here, we should learn from the Sangh Parivar to help others without expectation.”
The Mahayuti alliance won a massive majority in the recently held state assembly election. The RSS is believed to have played an important role in the election campaign, which enabled the alliance of BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP to win 234 seats in the 288-member assembly.
Interestingly, Ajit Pawar, who is also a key figure in the Mahayuti government has continued to skip visits to the RSS headquarters. This was the third time when Mr. Pawar avoided visiting the RSS headquarters. Shortly after joining the Mahayuti, he remained away from the visit, where all Mahayuti MLAs were invited. Again in September this year, he did not join Mr. Fadnavis and Mr. Shinde for the visit to ‘Reshimbaug’ even though he attended other events in Nagpur with them on the same day.
However, two NCP MLAs, Raju Karemore and Rajkumar Badole, attended the event. Mr. Badole’s attendance did not surprise many as he joined the Ajit Pawar-led party from the BJP few days before the Assembly election as part of the electoral adjustment. But Mr. Karemore’s presence raised a few eyebrows. He denied receiving any diktat from his party against visiting the RSS headquarters. “I came here on my own wish. I was not given any instructions from the party not to go to the memorial temple. I will discuss this with Ajit Pawar,” he said.