PM Modi salutes RSS for its 100-year journey in service of nation; calls it 'world's biggest NGO'

New Delhi: Prime minister Narendra Modi on Friday heaped praises on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party, during his Independence Day speech from Red Fort. In a rare display of honour, the prime minister called the RSS an NGO with a century of dedicated service to the nation.

“Today, I would like to proudly mention that 100 years ago, an organisation was born – Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). (They boast over a) 100 years of service to the nation in what we can call a proud, golden chapter of our history,” Modi said.

This is one of the few times PM Modi has acknowledged the RSS and comes at a time when the ties between the RSS and BJP are speculated to have been strained. The delay in the choosing of the next president of the BJP has also been attributed to the BJP and its ideological parent not coming to agreement on the matter.

Modi also paid his tributes to Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee. “Shyama Prasad Mookerjee was the first one to sacrifice his life for the country’s constitution,” Modi said in his speech.

The Modi government is also currently carrying out a year-long celebration of Mookerjee’s 125th birth anniversary from July this year to July next year.

Modi also said that the RSS swayamsevaks have dedicated their lives for the welfare of the country. “With the resolve of ‘vyakti nirman se rashtra nirman’ (nation building through individual building) and with the aim of the welfare of Maa Bharati, swayamsevaks have dedicated their lives to the welfare of our motherland. In a way, we can say that the RSS is the biggest NGO of the world. It has a history of 100 years of dedication,” Modi said.

“From the ramparts of the Red Fort today, I respectfully remember all the swayamsevaks who have contributed to these 100 years of national service,” he added. Modi said that service, dedication, organisation, and unparalleled discipline are the hallmarks of the swayamsevaks of the RSS.

“The country is proud of 100 years of this dedicated and glorious journey of the RSS. It will keep inspiring us,” he said. He later posted his praise of the RSS on social media and said: “This year is special as we mark a hundred years since the RSS was founded.”

Modi’s comments gather significance since the party’s ties with the RSS have been strained since the 2024 Lok Sabha elections when the RSS had stepped away from lending any electoral support to the BJP, especially in states like Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, after BJP president JP Nadda said that the party was “saksham” (capable) and no longer needed the RSS like it once did.