RSS event is Pranab's only engagement in two-day Nagpur visit

NAGPUR: Former President Pranab Mukherjee will arrive here on Wednesday to attend a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) event which starts on Thursday. Mukherjee, whose visit to the RSS event has kicked off a political storm of sorts, will stay in Raj Bhavan for two days. He will return to Delhi on Friday.

According to the media invite for the valedictory function of Sangh Shiksha Varg Tritya Varsh (third and final year of Sangh training course) - for which the former President has accepted to be the chief guest – the event will begin at 6.30pm on Thursday. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat will address the trainees according to the invite which was sent on Tuesday.

Sources told TOI that Mukherjee will spend four hours, from 5.30pm to 9.30pm, at RSS's Reshimbagh facility on Thursday. Sangh sources said they requested him to stay back for dinner after the function which ends around 8pm.

Interestingly, Mukherjee's official itinerary does not mention any other engagement in the city besides the RSS event during close to 44 hours that he will spend in Nagpur.

When asked about Mukherjee's visit, seven term Congress MP from the city Vilas Muttemwar came out with a terse "no comment", making it apparent he was not interested in meeting him. Muttemwar's protégé, Nagpur Congress president Vilas Thakre, told TOI, "We have no instructions or plans to call on him."

A small team of three to four people from RSS will receive the former President at the airport. It will comprise city unit head Rajesh Loya and officials like in charge of the training camp. It is to be seen whether Mukherjee visits Smiriti Mandir, the memorial of RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar and formally pays obeisance there as it is located at the same venue.