A hundred years of shakhas, swayamsevaks, and silent nation-building — and on Tuesday, 20 October 2026, Prime Minister Narendra Modi marked the occasion with a tribute that carried the full weight of his own origins inside the Sangh. On RSS Sthapana Divas, Modi extended greetings to all Swayamsevaks and paid homage to the leaders who have shaped the organisation across its remarkable century.

Writing on X, the Prime Minister declared: 'The RSS has completed a remarkable century of service, nation-building and social harmony,' adding that 'countless' — the post trails off, but the sentiment is unmistakable — individuals have given their lives to the organisation's mission. He also paid tribute to the 'greats who have nurtured the RSS over the years,' a nod stretching back to the very beginning.

From a Nagpur ground in 1925 to a century of reach

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh was founded on 27 October 1925 in Nagpur by physician and nationalist Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, who envisioned a disciplined, volunteer-driven movement to consolidate Hindu social unity. What began as a small gathering on a city ground has grown into one of the world's largest voluntary organisations, with a presence spanning every Indian state and a network of affiliated bodies covering education, tribal welfare, labour, and rural development.

Modi's tribute is far from ceremonial distance. The Prime Minister spent formative years as an RSS pracharak (full-time organiser) before entering electoral politics — making his words on this occasion a statement of personal history as much as political solidarity.

A consistent BJP ritual, now at centenary scale

Senior BJP leaders have issued greetings on RSS founding day in previous years, reflecting the deep organisational and ideological ties between the two bodies. But the centenary year gives this year's message an exceptional weight. Modi's invocation of 'social harmony' alongside 'nation-building' signals the framing the Sangh and its allies prefer — positioning the RSS as a civilisational, rather than narrowly partisan, force over its hundred-year arc.

The founding figure Hedgewar receives implicit homage in Modi's reference to 'all those greats' — a formulation wide enough to encompass successive Sarsanghchalaks who steered the RSS through Partition, the Emergency, and decades of political change. A centenary is a rare milestone. The RSS reaches it as arguably the most consequential non-governmental organisation in modern Indian public life.