Yashwant Shinde renews allegations over 2000s-era blasts; seeks probe into senior RSS and VHP leaders

 Mumbai: Former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) pracharak Yashwant Sahdev Shinde has written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge, demanding that the RSS, Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal be declared “terrorist organisations”.

In his latest letter, sent earlier this month, Shinde has reiterated allegations that senior RSS and VHP figures were involved in planning bomb blasts and providing weapons and explosives training during the 2000s. He has also sought the arrest and investigation of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, RSS leader Indresh Kumar and VHP general secretary Milind Parande.

 

Shinde, who worked full-time with the RSS from 1990 before leaving the organisation, has made similar allegations for several years. In a sworn affidavit submitted before a special CBI court in Nanded in 2022, he claimed that he had attended meetings where RSS and VHP members allegedly discussed plans for bomb attacks and that he received bomb-making training in 2003.

His affidavit was submitted during proceedings in the April 2006 Nanded blast case. The explosion at the residence of alleged RSS worker Laxman Rajkondwar killed his son Naresh and VHP activist Himanshu Panse. The CBI had described the incident as a bomb-assembly operation and investigated whether the explosives were intended for an attack on a mosque in Aurangabad.

Shinde had sought to become a witness in the case, but his application was rejected by the trial court. On January 4, 2025, the Nanded trial court acquitted all nine-surviving accused in the case.

Shinde has also alleged that trainees associated with the purported network were involved in blasts at mosques in Jalna, Purna and Parbhani in 2003-04. He has further made allegations concerning the Ajmer Sharif blast, the Malegaon 2008 case and several other major national security and political events.

The allegations remain contested and have not resulted in convictions against the RSS or VHP in the cases cited by Shinde. The RSS and VHP have not responded to his allegations in recent years, according to the report.

The VHP had welcomed the Nanded acquittals, describing the verdict as a setback for the Congress. Meanwhile, RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale has rejected comparisons between the RSS and extremist organisations, saying the organisation is often “mischaracterised” as anti-Muslim or supremacist.

Shinde’s latest letter comes amid renewed political scrutiny of the RSS in Karnataka. Home Minister Priyank Kharge has recently questioned the organisation’s legal status, finances, organisational structure and tax compliance, and has sought greater disclosure from its leadership.