A video claiming that the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh(RSS), led by Mohan Bhagwat, has pledged support to the I.N.D.I. Alliance (I.N.D.I.A) is trending on social media (here, here, here). The claim has caught the attention of many, leading to its wide circulation. We will fact-check this claim through this article.
Claim: The RSS, headed by Mohan Bhagwat, has extended its support for the I.N.D.I. Alliance.
Fact: While the video does depict a press conference held by an organisation named RSS, it is not the same as the RSS founded by Keshav Baliram Hedgewar in 1925 and currently headed by Mohan Bhagwat. The video features a different organisation named RSS, led by Janardhan Moon. This organisation, established in 2017, has no affiliation with the RSS led by Mohan Bhagwat. Hence, the claim made in the post is Misleading.
To debunk this claim, we first took note of the logo in the video, which reads ‘Awaz India.’ A relevant keyword search led us to the original press conference posted on a YouTube channel named Awaaz India TV. According to the video’s title, the press conference was held in Nagpur by an organisation named RSS, led by Janardhan Moon.
The description of this video revealed that this RSS is entirely separate from the other well-known RSS founded by Keshav Baliram Hedgewar in 1925.
Janardhan Moon, a social activist, reportedly established this RSS in 2017. He initially applied for its registration at the Nagpur Charity Commissioner’s office, but the application was declined.
He later filed a petition at the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court, where his appeal was also denied. Notably, this RSS has no affiliation with Mohan Bhagwat’s RSS.
Additional checks were carried out on the official RSS website and social media handles to verify any announcement supporting the I.N.D.I. Alliance. No such statements were found.
To sum up, the claim that the RSS led by Mohan Bhagwat has backed the I.N.D.I. Alliance is misleading, as the video features a separate entity using the same acronym, RSS, not affiliated with the RSS headed by Mohan Bhagwat.
