Covid-19: RSS Vijayadashami event in Nagpur to be low-key

Earlier in March, the RSS had suspended its three-day annual meeting of the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha, its top decision-making body, in Bengaluru

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has decided to celebrate Vijayadashami, which is the most awaited event in its annual calendar, in a low-profile manner this year because of the raging coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak.

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s speech will be keenly watched by both Sangh supporters and the opposition. (File photo)

Earlier in March, the RSS had suspended its three-day annual meeting of the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha, the top decision-making body of the right-wing Hindu nationalist organisation, in Bengaluru.

The Vijayadashami programme is significant for the RSS, as the organisation was founded on this day by Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgewar in Nagpur in 1925.

As per the norm, the RSS chief makes a customary speech after a parade of swayamsevaks and shastra pujan (worship of weapons), which is often seen as a pointer to the way its affiliate organisations and political offshoots will function in the following year.

This year’s Vijayadashami, which falls on October 25, will be held days ahead of the three-phase Bihar assembly elections and a clutch of by-elections.

Bihar goes to polls on October 28, November 3 and 7 and by-elections to around 60 seats in several states, including Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Madhya Pradesh (MP), will also be held in early November.

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s speech will be keenly watched by both Sangh supporters and the opposition. The speech assumes significance in view of a raft of assembly elections that will be held in the middle of next year in states such as West Bengal (WB), Assam, Tamil Nadu (TN) and Kerala.

Political parties and experts are eager to get a sense about how Bhagwat reacts to the construction of the Ram temple following the Supreme Court’s (SC) judgement last year and the killing of seers and Hindu priests in some parts of the country such as in Maharashtra’s Palghar district in April. It is also a matter of interest how he would address issues such as women’s safety in the backdrop of the alleged gang-rape and murder of a Dalit teenager (19) by four upper caste men in western UP’s Hathras district in September.

Sameer Gautam, a veteran RSS member, said that the Sangh would adhere to the Centre’s government’s Covid-19 guidelines and norms while organising the Vijayadashami programme at Reshimbagh ground in Nagpur on October 25.

Around 50 prominent people, mostly from the Sangh parivaar, would be invited to the programme, while the annual swayamsevak parade would be cancelled, he said. “However, Bhagwat will perform the shastra pujan and deliver his customary speech on the occasion,” Gautam said.

The concept of annual chief guest at the annual Vijayadashami celebrations would likely be done away this year, he added.

Dr Hedgewar had founded the RSS with a vision to infuse the Hindu community with new physical strength through military training. He had propounded that the struggle against the British Raj lacked a “sense of moral purpose and Hindu nationalism,” and that the Indian National Congress (INC) had no “positive vision of a Hindu nation”. He had urged that was the duty of every practicing Hindu to do his best to consolidate the society.

The RSS has emerged as a power centre through the years. For instance, in October 2014, Eknath Khadse, the strongman of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is considered to trace its ideological moorings to the RSS, was overlooked for the coveted Maharashtra chief minister’s post. Instead, the Sangh had backed Devendra Fadnavis for the top political top job in the state. This was not the first time, when the RSS had dictated terms.

The RSS had also thrown its lot behind Manohar Lal Khattar, a former full-time pracharak, as its choice for the Haryana CM in 2014.

Earlier in 2009, it had pushed for anointing Nitin Gadkari, a hard core swayamsevak, as the national president of the BJP. A strong visible RSS imprint was evident in the choice of Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister of the country in 2014 along with his council of ministers. A similar trend was also apparent during PM Modi’s second consecutive term last year.

In a separate announcement, no programmes would be held at Deekshabhoomi in Nagpur on Vijayadashami on October 25 because of the Covid-19 pandemic, said Vilas Godghate, one of the working committee members of Deekshabhoomi Trust.

Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar had embraced Buddhism with thousands of his Dalit followers on the occasion of Vijayadashami at Deekshabhoomi in 1956.

“All programmes have been cancelled on October 25 owing to the Covid-19 pandemic. The public should stay at home and offer Buddha vandana and salutations to Dr Ambedkar,” Godghate said.

Lakhs of followers visit Deekshabhoomi on the occasion of Vijayadashami to pay their homage to Dr Ambedkar and Lord Buddha.