Gudi Padwa, which is the Marathi community's New Year's Day, is widely celebrated in all parts of Maharashtra, including the state's capital city, Mumbai. This year, as usual, colourful processions were taken out in various cities of the state, and the day was celebrated with lots of enthusiasm. But, perhaps, more noteworthy were two events from the political sphere, which attracted the attention of citizens and political observers alike. One was Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or RSS, headquarters in Nagpur, where some very important discussions reportedly happened between him and the RSS chief, Mohan Bhagwat, and the second was Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray's customary rally at Shivaji Park in Mumbai. The scale and the influence of the leaders at both these events obviously varied a lot, but the media in Maharashtra and the rest of the country reported these events as significant in terms of what could be expected in the coming year.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the RSS headquarters was seen by many as a trendsetting event. The relations between the RSS and the BJP have been watched in the past few years by all political observers, and there was a sense among them that many times the RSS chief was seen and heard giving........

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