RSS organises ‘Banjara Mahakumbh’, aims to unite nomad communities 

NEW DELHI:  Ahead of the 2024 LS elections, the first of its kind  “Banjara-Mahakumbh”started on January 25  with the support of  Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sang h (RSS) at Gadri village in Jalgaon district of Maharashtra. The event aims to unite the Gore and other nomadic communities. The “Banjara-Mahakumbh” by the RSS has started in Maharashtra, which is the home of around 5 million people to various nomadic communities.

According to a senior functionary of RSS, over 9-10 lakh people belonging to different nomadic communities are expected to attend the 6-day All India Banjara-Mahakumbh from across the country.
 To make the people of the communities aware of their rights, and get attached with the essence of ‘Sanatan- vichar’, a galaxy of scholars and functionaries of RSS and other associated organizations like the Dharma Jagaran Manch, are scheduled to attend the conference between January 25 and January 30.

Senior RSS member Suresh ‘Bhaiyyaji’ Joshi, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis are prominent among other leaders,who have consented to take part in the ‘Banjara-Mahakumbh’.

Sources in the RSS said that the conference will also raise awareness against the rise in the cases of conversions of Banjara community members by missionaries and others in a well–calculated strategy.

 “At a time when the states like Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and others, are slated to go in assembly polls this year, such a conference of marginalized nomadic communities will certainly give a new  direction to the nomadic tribes,” said a senior functionary of BJP. Sources also claimed that 9-10 lakh people belonging to nomadic castes – Gor Banjara, Labana and Naikda — from the poll-bound states  are  likely to attend this conference.