RSS Invites Former VP Jagdeep Dhankhar To Vijayadashami Event As Sangh Concludes Centenary Celebrations

In a surprise move, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has invited former Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, who has been seen rarely in public since leaving office, to its Vijayadashami programme on October 20. The event marks the organisation’s foundation day and concludes its centenary celebrations.

The RSS’s Vijayadashami programme is the organisation’s most important event and is held at the historic Reshmibagh Ground in Nagpur. The event will also feature a speech by Dr Mohan Bhagwat, the Sarsanghchalak, who is expected to talk about the road ahead for the RSS and its affiliated members.

“The chief guest of the event is Mr Sanjay Gupta, Editor-in-Chief of Dainik Jagran. The other two guests are Jagdeep Dhankhar, former Vice-President, and Yaniv Revach, Israel’s Consul-General for the Midwest India region,” the RSS said in a statement.

The RSS’s Vijayadashami programme has special significance this year, as it marks the conclusion of the organisation’s centenary-year celebrations. The RSS has been celebrating 100 years since its foundation. The celebrations began last year during the Vijayadashami programme and will conclude on October 20 this year.

Jagdeep Dhankhar As A Guest

The association between Dhankhar and the RSS has continued for several decades, since the former Vice-President was part of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh. Although Dhankhar’s tenure as Vice-President began in 2022 and ended in 2025, he served as Governor of West Bengal between 2019 and 2022.

Dhankhar was also Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs in 1990, when former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar headed the Union Government. This is not the first time Dhankhar has been invited to an event organised by the RSS or its members.

In November last year, Dhankhar was the chief guest at a book launch event in Bhopal. The book, Hum Aur Yeh Vishwa (We And The World), is a collection of eight articles written by Dr Manmohan Vaidya, a senior RSS leader. The book was published by Suruchi Prakashan.

“Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar has been invited by the RSS, but he is not the chief guest of the Vijayadashami programme. A lot of prominent members of society are invited by the RSS every year for the function. The former Vice-President will not be on the dais with Dr Mohan Bhagwat, the Sarsanghchalak,” said Dilip Deodhar, a Nagpur-based observer on issues related to the RSS.