Source: Reuters
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – A Hindu nationalist group behind the rise of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is opening up to critics and supporters through a first-of-its-kind outreach program in New Delhi, preparing the ground for his re-election bid next year.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the fountainhead of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that believes in a Hindu-first ideology, provided thousands of campaigners for Modi’s landslide victory in 2014, and could help energize its cadre to fend off rising criticism of the government.
A general election is due by May.
A three-day lecture session the RSS started on Monday in the capital – rare for a mainly male group that typically broadcasts its views from its headquarters in the western city of Nagpur – is also being seen as an attempt to mainstream the movement that Modi joined in his youth.
Categories: Asia, Hinduism, India, The Muslim Times