No one outsider for us, Sangh is a unifying force, says RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat

Amid a raging controversy over former President and Congress veteran Pranab Mukherjee attending its event, the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Thursday said this was a "meaningless" debate and no one is an outsider for his organisation.

NAGPUR: Amid a raging controversy over former President and Congress veteran Pranab Mukherjee attending its event, the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Thursday said this was a "meaningless" debate and no one is an outsider for his organisation. Speaking ahead of Mukherjee's speech, Bhagwat said Mukherjee will remain what he is and the Sangh will remain the Sangh even after the event. Bhagwat said his organisation wants to unify the entire society and no one was an outsider for it. People may have different views but they are all children of mother India, he said. Bhagwat said the Sangh has inviting prominent people to its event every year. Those present at today's event also included former prime minister Lal Bahadu Shastri's son Sunil Shastri, as also Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose's nephew Ardhendu Bose along with his wife and son. Earlier in the day, Mukherjee described Keshav Baliram Hedgewar as a "great son of Mother India' as he visited the birthplace of the RSS founding Sarsanghachalak. "Today I came here to pay my respect and homage to a great son of Mother India," Mukherjee wrote in a visitor's book at Hedgewar's birthplace ahead of his much-anticipated speech at the RSS headquarters here. While the Sangh is often described as a Hindu right-wing organisation, it calls itself a nationalist and cultural organisation rather than a political or religious one. It was founded by Hedgewar , on September 27, 1925 on Vijayadashami day at his house here. The name 'Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh' was selected for the organisation on April 17, 1926 from a list of four names -- Jaripatka Mandal, Bharat Uddharak Mandal, Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.