News18.com
The two-day visit, scheduled for July 23 and 24, is being kept a hush-hush affair as the RSS is sceptical of Bhagwat’s itinerary going public. They believe it could lead to unnecessary speculations in the midst of violent protests in Basirhat and other parts of Bengal
Kolkata: Mohan Bhagwat, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief, will be visiting Kolkata on July 23 to meet Acharya Shri Mahashraman at Rajarhat in the northern part of the city. Shri Mahashraman is the 11th Acharya of the Terapanth Dharma Sangha.
Bhagwat’s visit to Bengal could be viewed as a worrying move for Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Ever since she came to power in 2011, the Sangh has been able to increase its membership in the state by nearly five times. Not only Hindus, but several leaders from the Muslim community have also joined the RSS and have been working extensively on rural development in Bengal.
The two-day visit, scheduled for July 23 and 24, is being kept a hush-hush affair as the RSS is sceptical of Bhagwat’s itinerary going public. They believe it could lead to unnecessary speculations in the midst of violent protests in Basirhat and other parts of Bengal.
“The ruling party (TMC) is unnecessarily trying to create a controversy. Therefore, we have decided to keep his visit low-profile,” told a source in the Bengal RSS to News18.
On July 23, the RSS chief will visit the Acharya Shri Mahashraman Education and Research Foundation around 9:30 am. Around 10:30 am, he will leave for a meeting with the Sangh and BJP leaders at Keshav Bhawan in North Kolkata.
On July 24, Bhagwat will have series of ‘courtesy meetings’ with industrialists, politician, businessmen, intellectuals and religious leaders.
During his visit, Bhagwat is expected to stay in a New Town area apartment - close to the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport.
Sources claimed, that the RSS chief is likely to discuss the avenues to increasing the visibility of the RSS in Bengal. He is also expected to question Karyakartas (workers) over Basirhat and Darjeeling - to get a first-hand account of why the incident flared up beyond control.
In the last six months, this will be Bhagwat’s second such visit to Bengal. On January 14 - for the first time - the 66-year-old addressed a Hindu Sammelan at the Brigade Parade Grounds, the largest venue for holding any political gathering in Kolkata.
His then visit had become controversial after the Kolkata Police denied permission for a rally in the city, prompting the Sangh to move Calcutta High Court for approval.