Why Premji visited RSS founder's memorial at Nagpur

Nagpur:  fter the India Inc bigwigs Ratan Tata and Rahul Bajaj,  now veteran industrialist Azim Premji has visited the Hedgewar Smruti Mandir premises here and paid tributes at the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) founder's memorial.

Premji met RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and also discussed various issues related to the country, society and economy for about half an hour, after offering homage at the memorial of K.B. Hedgewar at Reshimbaug area in the city on Sunday, sources told IANS.

According to an RSS official, "Azim Premji is one of the few industrialists who is also famous for carrying out social responsibilities. His foundation is doing well in the education sector. He has also donated a huge amount for social causes. The Sangh likes him for his personality."

Premji had earlier participated in the 'Rashtriya Sewa Sangam', a conclave of NGOs convened by the RSS in 2015. he later said, however, that attending an event does not mean that he is promoting anyone.

This is not the first time that an indutrialist has paid homage at the memorial of the Sangh founder or met its current chief Mohan Bhagwat at Nagpur. On September 14, industrialist Rahul Bajaj had paid homage to the statue of Hedgewar.

Tata Sons' former Chairman Ratan Tata, too, has visited the Sangh headquarters twice within five months. He also met the Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat during a visit to Nagpur in April this year. In December 2016 also, he had visited the RSS headquarters and, in 2017, he shared the stage with Bhagwat at another event in Mumbai on the birth anniversary of the deceased Sangh leader Nana Palkar.

The Sangh aims to add new people by bringing them closer to the organisation and for this purpose, it has established a liaison department to make inroads among every major section of the society. The liaison department contacts noted personalities from different regions of the country and invites them to visit the Sangh.

Whether, it was the speech of former President Pranab Mukherjee at the concluding ceremony of a Sangh event last year, or the arrival of Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi on the Vijayadashami festival on October 18 last year, all these happened as a result of the efforts of the liaison department, the RSS official added.

HCL Chairman Shiv Nadar is the chief guest at the Vijayadashami festival of the Sangh being celebrated here on Tuesday.

Nagpur-based Sangh ideologue Dilip Deodhar told IANS: "The liaison department is working as an engine in the expansion of the Sangh. A few days ago, actor Mithun Chakraborty also arrived in Reshimbagh to pay homage to the memorial of the Sangh founder Hedgewar."