Pranab Mukherjee to hold nationalism class in Nagpur

NEW DELHI: In a rare first that will be watched closely, former President Pranab Mukherjee, a thorough Congressman with a deep sense of history, will speak on nationalism to the future ‘pracharak’ cadre of RSS.

Mukherjee has accepted the invitation to speak on June 7 in Nagpur to RSS members who have just cleared ‘Tritiya Shiksha Varg’ of the RSS academic curriculum. Those who finish this training are then aligned to become full-time pracharaks.

ET has reliably learnt that RSS sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat first invited Mukherjee while he was still President. But Mukherjee had declined saying he could not attend the event while holding a constitutional office. Bhagwat, who had held a few meetings with Mukherjee in Rashtrapati Bhavan, called on him even after he demitted office. He is believed to have renewed the invitation, asking him to reconsider now that he was no longer the President.


Given that he had resigned from Congress when he became head of state, Mukherjee accepted the invitation. He has chosen to speak on nationalism. RSS has consciously tried to improve its reachout to those who may not entirely agree with its ideology. An RSS functionary in Nagpur said: “The 25-day training will conclude on June 7 for which former President Pranab Mukherjee has been invited and he has given his consent.”