The three-day Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) meeting starting in Belagavi on Friday does not require government permission as it is a private event, Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge said, adding that any procession or gathering on public roads should get police approval after assessing the local law and order situation.
Belagavi will host the annual Akhil Bharatiya Prant Pracharak Baithak from July 10 to 12, which will bring together RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and senior officials from across the country. The annual gathering is expected to attract national, regional and state-level personnel, including organizers of 32 affiliated organizations and members of the organization’s executive board.
“What is happening in Belagavi is a special program of the RSS. If they want to take to the streets and hold a march or organize a large gathering, they have to take permission from the government. The police will give permission after checking the local law and order situation,” Priyank told reporters.
Bhagwat Sarkaryava will be joined by Dattatreya Hosabale, Sah Sarkaryavahas Krishna Gopal, CR Mukunda, Arun Kumar, Ramdhat, Alok Kumar and Atul Limaye. Bhagwat is expected to stay in Belagavi for about a week.
Informed leaders said the meeting will discuss the concluding phase of the RSS’s centenary celebrations, plans to expand urban shakhas among IT professionals, business communities and other working professionals, and preparations for training camps for 2026. National issues, including the upcoming population census, are also expected to be taken up.
RSS leaders said that the meeting will review the organization’s activities and deliberate on its future plans and those of its affiliated bodies.
Belagavi district authorities have beefed up security ahead of the rally. Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Roshan has banned the use of drones and other aerial devices around the locations where senior RSS leaders will be staying.
An order issued under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, declared a 2 km no-fly zone around three event venues till July 14. This restriction covers Belagavi Foundry Group, St. Meera School, Sahyadri Colony, Bhagyanagar Extension, Shri Jagannath Rao Joshi Samadharshana Bhavan, Godshead Road and Shastri Nagar. The order prohibits the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned aircraft systems, drones and gliders in those areas. More civilian and reserve police personnel have also been deployed across the city.
Separately, Priyank rejected BJP MLC CT Ravi’s allegations that he had sent police personnel to the residence of Hindu activist Tejas Gowda to intimidate him after the activist filed a defamation case against the minister. The case, filed over Priyank’s recent comments on RSS, prompted a Bengaluru court to issue summons to him.
“Let CT Ravi submit his vote sample first and then speak for others,” Priyank said, referring to the controversy surrounding Ravi’s alleged remarks against former minister Lakshmi Hebbalkar during the winter session of the legislature in Belagavi.
Regarding the NDA’s complaint to the Election Commission of India alleging widespread irregularities in the ongoing special intensive review of electoral rolls in Karnataka, Priyank accused the BJP of following a familiar pattern.
“This is the standard operating procedure of the BJP. First, they will cry, they will make a fuss about it, they will claim that they are victims, and then the central agencies will come…that means they are nothing but puppets of the Centre,” he said.
