Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to visit the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS) Dr Hedgewar Smruti Mandir in Nagpur at Reshimbagh on Sunday, March 30, which happens to be Gudi Padwa, the Hindu New Year, and it is being viewed by observers as a politically significant message.
Significantly, Modi will be the second Prime Minister to visit the Smriti Mandir in Nagpur’s Reshimbagh area after Vajpayee, who was the first to do so. PM Modi’s visit to the Smriti Mandir coincides with the RSS celebrating 100 years of its foundation.
“PM Modi’s visit to the Smriti Mandir is being seen as an opportunity to reaffirm his commitment to the RSS ideology,” according to a BJP leader.
The RSS and the Hindu New Year celebration of Gudi Padwa share a special connection. As per the Hindu calendar, the birth anniversary of RSS founder, the late Dr Keshav Balirampant Hedgewar, falls on Gudi Padwa, making the festival significant for the RSS.
PM Modi has visited Nagpur several times, but this will be his first visit to the RSS headquarters in Reshimbagh. There is a lot of speculation and curiosity about this in political circles. His visit is being considered very important, because he will enter Reshimbag for the first time as Prime Minister. Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, and top leadership of the Sangh will be present at the venue.
Notably, PM Modi became Gujarat CM in October 2001 but has never visited the RSS headquarters since then, though he became an RSS pracharak in 1972 and joined the BJP in 1987. According to BJP sources, PM Modi last visited the RSS headquarters long ago when he was an RSS pracharak.
According to BJP sources, elaborate arrangements have been made in Nagpur for PM Modi’s visit, specifically in light of the recent violence in the Mahal area on March 17.
PM Modi’s visit to the Dr Hedgewar Smriti Mandir to pay tribute to the founders of the RSS at the start of the Hindu New Year of Gudi Padwa coincides with the Pratipada programme of the RSS. He will visit the Dr Hedgewar Smriti Mandir at 9 am.
Popularly known as “Smriti Mandir”, the venue is dedicated to the memory of RSS founder and first sarsanghchalak Dr Keshavrao Balirampant Hedgewar. It is a sacred place for millions of RSS swayamsevaks and dignitaries, who make it a point to visit this place during their Nagpur itinerary.
Right in front of the Smriti Mandir, there is the “Smriti Chinha” or samadhi of the second sarsanghchalak of the RSS, ‘Guruji’ Madhavrao Sadashiv Golwalkar, in the form of a ‘Yagya Jwala’, an ever-burning fire of Sangh work in the hearts of the visitors. ‘Guruji’ Golwalkar too was cremated here in June 1973 after he passed away heading the RSS for 33 years, taking over from RSS founder and first sarsanghchalak Dr Hedgewar.
The founder and first sarsanghchalak of the RSS, Dr Hedgewar, passed away in 1940, and he was cremated at Reshimbagh. After his demise, RSS volunteers built a memorial for Dr Hedgewar, though he was not in favour of it. Even the second sarsanghchalak of the RSS, ‘Guruji’ Madhavrao Sadashiv Golwalkar, was also not in favour of building a memorial. However, their directives were defied by RSS swayamsevaks Babasaheb Ghatate and others. The memorials of both Dr Hedgewar and Golwalkar are inside the complex at Reshimbagh.
After visiting the Smriti Mandir, PM Modi will go to the Deekshabhoomi, which is synonymous with Dr Ambedkar’s embrace of Buddhism. Around 10 am, he will lay the foundation stone of Madhav Netralaya Premium Centre in Nagpur and address a public meeting. Madhav Netralaya is the new extension building of the Eye Institute and Research Centre. The premium centre was established in the memory of ‘Guruji’ Shri Madhavrao Sadashivrao Golwalkar, the second sarsanghchalak of the RSS. The project includes a 250-bed hospital, 14 outpatient departments, and 14 modular operation theatres, aimed at providing affordable and world-class eye treatment to the people.
Later, the PM will inaugurate the Loitering Munition Testing Range and Runway Facility for UAVs at Solar Defence and Aerospace Limited in Nagpur around 12.30 pm, after which he will leave for Chhattisgarh.