Yogi Adityanath and RSS plan to bring more Hindu sects to Prayagraj Kumbh – here’s what happened at Mathura rally

Politics aside, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath discussed cultural issues with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leaders when he met them in Mathura recently.

The RSS told Indian Express that Adityanath encouraged them to support wider involvement of various sects of Hindu society, including tribals, in the upcoming Kumbh Mela.

Adityanath specifically mentioned Karnataka’s prominent Other Backward Class (OBC) community Lingayat and urged RSS to invite them to the Prayagraj Kumbh scheduled for next year.

The UP CM stressed the importance of working with these communities as they have traditionally not attended or ‘never been invited’ to such festivals.

Sources indicated that during a 45-minute private meeting with senior Sangh leaders, Adityanath discussed these outreach efforts at length and RSS agreed with the UP CM.

A senior RSS official acknowledged that communities like the Lingayats of Karnataka, Karvis of Maharashtra and certain sects in Kerala have stayed away from the Kumbh.

“It is an issue that the RSS has also been working on. There has not even been an attempt to bring them into the fold. We have been working on it,” he added.

He recalled that the Swaminarayan sect would stay away earlier, but the RSS brought them to the Kumbh last time. He also said that Adityanath has extended administrative support to the RSS’s efforts.

The UP CM suggested that the Sangh should use the Kumbh platform to promote the ‘Paanch Pran’ (five vows) that it introduced on the occasion of the centenary celebrations.

Dattatreya Hosabale, general secretary of RSS, said Adityanath mainly discussed the Kumbh Mela and requested that people from all over the country come.

Adityanath emphasized that the Kumbh is not just a religious gathering but a cultural event that symbolizes national unity, Hosabale said. “We said we will help,” he added.