Representational Picture
Nagpur: Rasthriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), headquartered at Nagpur has been the epicentre of all political movements in the BJP. However the party is more associated with its uniform – a khaki shorts, white shirt and a black topi – straightaway linked to its ideology. The traditional RSS uniform which has been into existence for years on end, has always found repulsion among majority of style loving youths. Perhaps keeping that into account the RSS high command is now seriously contemplating the idea of bidding bye to this dress code and replace it with more stylish trendy wear.
Sources informed that the party leaders in Nagpur have suggested trousers of some different colors – grey, blue and black.
A source close to the RSS informed that the change in the RSS uniform is on the agenda of the highest decision making body of the RSS – the Akhil Bharatiya Patinidhi Sabha – which meets on March 11-13 in Rajasthan.
Gold Rate
Thursday 13 March 2025
The RSS, the ideological mentor of the ruling BJP, set up a committee after many senior members suggested that it was time to update the Sangh uniform and ditch the flared “half-pants” to attract more young people. The proposal has been discussed at RSS forums for years, but a decision has never been taken. It was shot down at a meeting in 2009.
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, who was general secretary then, was among those who supported a new-look uniform.
“When the well dug by ancestors gives dirty water, there is no point drinking from it. A new well can be dug,” Bhagwat said, using a Hindi phrase that translates to changing with the times.
The RSS describes itself as the world’s largest voluntary organization with six million members. Set up in 1925 as a social outfit, the Sangh insists it is not political even though the BJP draws some of its top leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah from its cadres.
The regulation knee-length shorts do not distinguish between top leaders and the junior-most worker; BJP icons like former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee have been seen in them at RSS events.
