A few hundred men paraded on motorcycles through the streets of Sangareddy, in the southern Indian state of Telangana, on May 29, 2026. They were supporters of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or RSS, the foremost organisation within the Hindu nationalist movement and the ideological backbone of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – the Hindu nationalist party of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Wearing saffron scarves around their necks, they rode down the roads waving their signature double-pennant flags, also saffron – the colour of the BJP.
‘There has been this Hindu right-wing project aimed at making India a de facto Hindu state’
The New York Times reported that several states governed by Modi’s political party have allocated funds to projects aimed at promoting Shivaji’s legacy.
The narrative the party is trying to push aligns with a clear political agenda, according to Rohit Chopra, a communications professor at Santa Clara University and a member of the advisory board of the Centre for the Study of Organised Hate: