NAGPUR: Former President and the Congress veteran Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday visited the birth place of the RSS founding Sarsanghachalak Keshav Baliram Hedgewar ahead of his much-anticipated speech at the Sangh headquarters here.

Mukherjee was welcomed by the RSS chief Bhagwat.

According to sources, 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.

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

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.

Five things to know about the RSS founder

  • Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, born April 1, 1889, was the founding Sarsanghachalak of the RSS.

  • Also known as Doctorji, Hedgewar passed L.M.S. Examination from the National Medical College Calcutta in June 1914.

  • He founded the RSS in 1925 to promote the concept of united India, deeply rooted in indigenous ideology in his home town Nagpur.

  • He died on June 21, 1940, following deterioration of health in later years of his life.

  • His last rites were performed in the locality of Reshim Bagh in Nagpur, which was later known as Hedgewar Smruti Mandir.