A hundred years after its founding in Nagpur, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh closed its centenary year on Tuesday, 20 October 2026, with a landmark address by Sarsanghchalak Dr. Mohan Bhagwat — and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav was among the first to amplify its core message to the nation.

What Bhagwat said at Nagpur's centenary closing ceremony

Speaking at the closing ceremony in Nagpur — the RSS's founding city and permanent headquarters — Dr. Bhagwat delivered what CM Yadav described as an ojaswi udbodhan (energetic address), centred on three themes: India's rising stature in the world, social harmony, and society's responsibility in nation-building.

The sharpest line in the address, as quoted by CM Yadav, was a pointed warning about protest movements: 'The country and society are our own, therefore the responsibility for them belongs to all of us. Movements too must spring from this same feeling.' Bhagwat cautioned that when agitations become defined solely by opposition to a person, group, or ideology — and are reduced to a political instrument — forces that seek to weaken India are the ones who benefit.

One hundred years of RSS, one message about what movements are for

The RSS was founded on 27 September 1925 in Nagpur by Dr. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, making 2025 its official centenary year. The closing ceremony of that centenary year in October 2026 marks the formal conclusion of a year-long series of commemorative events across India.

Dr. Bhagwat has led the organisation since 2009. His speeches at major RSS gatherings consistently return to the themes of collective ownership of the nation and social cohesion — but framing those ideas explicitly around the conduct of political movements carries additional weight at this historical juncture, when street agitations have been a recurring feature of Indian public life.

Why CM Yadav's amplification matters

By sharing the speech publicly and urging followers to 'definitely listen' to it, CM Yadav — a senior BJP leader and the chief minister of one of India's largest states — gives the RSS chief's remarks an explicit political echo. The BJP draws its ideological roots from the RSS, and senior BJP functionaries routinely attend and highlight major Sangh events.

The underlying logic Bhagwat articulated — that movements rooted in enmity hand leverage to India's adversaries — is a recurring theme in RSS public messaging. But delivered at the close of a historic centenary, before a national audience, it lands with particular force.

Bhagwat's speech is available in full on YouTube, as linked by CM Yadav. Whether state governments and party organisations translate this appeal for constructive, responsibility-driven civic action into practice is the question the centenary year leaves open.