At RSS founder's birthplace, Pranab calls him 'great son of Mother India'

Sources told PTI this visit to pay tributes to Hedgewar was not part of Mukherjee's scheduled itinerary and an impromptu decision was taken by the former president to do so.

Former President and  Congress veteran Pranab Mukherjee visited on Thursday the birthplace of the RSS founding Sarsanghachalak, Keshav Baliram Hedgewar,  ahead of his much-anticipated speech at the Sangh headquarters in Nagpur.

Mukherjee was welcomed by the RSS chief, Mohan Bhagwat. TV news channels beamed visuals of Mukherjee visiting Hedgewar's birthplace.

News agency ANI tweeted a photograph showing Mukherjee's message in the visitors' book that called Hedgewar "a great son of Mother India". 
 

Congress leader Anand Sharma said Mukherjee’s Nagpur visit “anguished millions of Congress workers and all those who believed in pluralism, diversity and the foundational values of the Indian Republic”.

In the build-up to the event, several Congress leaders questioned Mukherjee’s decision to attend a programme organised by the right-wing, nationalistic RSS, which they consider ideologically opposite.

The Congress tweeted what it called a "primer" on what the RSS stood for.

 

Mukherjee, who reached Nagpur Wednesday evening, has been invited by the RSS to address its Shiksha Varg.

According to sources, his visit to pay tributes to Hedgewar was not part of the itinerary and an impromptu decision was taken by the former president.

At the RSS headquarters, Mukherjee met senior Sangh functionaries and attended a parade by Sangh workers, who completed training at the camp.

It is an annual training camp, meant for swayamsevaks in their third year in the organisation. The RSS holds training camps for first, second and third-year swayamsewaks.