Mumbai, June 26: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has said that applications to join the organisation have grown nearly five times since the day former president Pranab Mukherjee addressed their event in Nagpur. The RSS has sent a letter to Mukherjee thanking him for addressing the swayamsevaks in Nagpur on June 7 "despite opposition."

"From June 1 to June 6, on an average, we used to receive 378 requests everyday on our website 'Join RSS' at the national level. On June 7, the day Mukherjee addressed our Shiksha Varg, we received 1,779 requests. After June 7, we have been receiving 1,200-1,300 requests everyday," senior RSS leader Biplab Roy told reporters, adding that 40 per cent of the requests were from Bengal.

When asked whether Mukherjee attending the program has increased the popularity of RSS among masses, the Sangh leader said, "It would be wrong to interpret it in that way that because of Mukherjee, the acceptability of RSS has increased. RSS is popular among masses because of its activities in the society. "But, yes after Mukherjee's address there has been an increase in such interests among the masses, this is one of the reasons," he said.

Mukherjee addressed the Shiksha Varg on June 7 in Nagpur amid opposition by leaders in the Congress party. The former president endorsed the idea of a pluralistic society while addressing the RSS's Tritiya Varsh event in Nagpur and said that hate would destroy India's identity. Pranab, during his speech, said that it was disappointing to see India rank low in the happiness ranking. Read the full text of Pranab Mukherjee's RSS address here.

The former president also quoted India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru saying, "It was this Nationalism that Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru so vividly expressed in the ‘Discovery of India’, and I quote - 'I am convinced that Nationalism can only come out of the ideological fusion of Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and other groups in India. That does not mean that extinction of any real culture of any group, but it does mean a common national outlook, to which other matters are subordinated'."

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 26, 2018 10:03 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).