As the state inches towards the 2026 Assembly polls, the RSS will hold an unprecedented show of organisational strength on Sunday, Mahalaya, in Bengal.

Thousands of swayamsevaks in their traditional uniforms are set to kick-start the saffron outfit’s centenary celebrations at 1,000 places across Bengal.

“Though the yearlong centenary celebrations will formally begin across the country on Vijaya Dashami (October 2), Bengal will organise the inaugural event on Mahalaya (Sunday) because of the state’s biggest festival, Durga Puja. This moment is very important, as thousands of swayamsevaks in nearly 1,000 places across Bengal will hit the streets in uniform,” said a senior RSS leader in Calcutta.

K.B. Hedgewar, known by the moniker ‘Doctorji’ in the Sangh and his Bengal connection, had founded the RSS in Nagpur in 1925.

The centenary celebrations are a pan-India programme, but political observers see special significance in the Hindutva organisation’s special thrust on poll-bound Bengal.

The fountainhead of Hindutva politics, the RSS, has already set up around 4,500 units across Bengal under three categories— shakhas, milans and mandalis (daily, weekly and monthly assemblies, respectively). Its target is to form units in all gram panchayats, including some in minority pockets. If achieved, the RSS would have around 8,000 units before next year’s elections.

An RSS source said that apart from the 4,500 active units, the organisation plans to reactivate over 10,000 dormant units that stopped functioning as swayamsevaks became engaged in other work.

“Though those units are not operating regularly, our swayamsevaks are still there. We will reach out to them and reactivate them during these centenary celebrations, which will continue till next year’s Vijaya Dashami,” the source said.

The RSS on pen and paper works as a cultural and an apolitical platform, its influence on the BJP is well known. Most senior BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, trace their roots to the RSS.

There will be two types of programmes in each khand (block) or nagar (town) area — Ekatrikaran (assembly) and Path Sanchalan (street march).

“On the occasion of the centenary celebrations, programmes in uniform are important as part of our effort to reach out to people about the Sangh and its culture,” he added.

Besides the inaugural celebrations on Sunday, the RSS will continue a series of events throughout the year aimed at connecting with the masses.

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat is scheduled to visit Calcutta and hold a day-long interaction with over 1,000 prominent personalities of Bengal who are not directly associated with the Sangh, to share the organisation’s message and vision, on December 21.

Last Thursday, senior RSS leaders held a coordination meeting with BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya and other top functionaries, where multiple Bengal-related issues were discussed, including BJP leaders’ participation in RSS events.

A source said that in many districts like Bankura, West Burdwan and Nadia, senior BJP leaders including MPs and MLAs, will attend RSS gatherings. In places without BJP legislators or MPs, RSS functionaries will be the chief speakers.

As the BJP focuses on Hindutva consolidation, political observers believe the RSS outreach will significantly benefit the party in Bengal. A senior BJP leader pointed out that electoral victories in Delhi and Maharashtra would not have been possible without the micro-level voter mobilisation of the RSS.

“If the RSS replicates the same model in Bengal, Trinamool Congress won’t know what hit them,” the BJP leader said.

Political scientist Biswanath Chakraborty had a different take.

“Undoubtedly, the RSS has seen significant growth — not just in terms of units, but in pushing Hindutva into the Bengali middle class and educated society. Even in colleges and universities, you can find teachers who are RSS sympathisers,” said Chakraborty.

“However, Mamata Banerjee has not directly opposed the RSS the way Congress or the Samajwadi Party has. She has always drawn a line between what she calls the ‘good RSS’ and the ‘bad RSS.’ So, it is difficult to say if the RSS activism will directly help the BJP oust her,” Chakraborty said.

He cited Digha’s Jagannath Temple and the newly announced Durga Angan in Calcutta, which do not oppose the ideological goals of the RSS, as examples of how Mamata’s policies sometimes align indirectly with the Sangh’s cultural agenda.