Former president and Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee's speech at the RSS headquarters on Thursday has made the Congress very happy. The party has highlighted a symbolism in his speech that appealed to the participants of a training camp to be tolerant, non-violent and guardians of the diversity of the nation while reading out to them the universal definitions of nation, nationalism and patriotism that did not endorse the RSS version. And, not once in his entire speech did he mention the RSS.

The Congress reaction was in stark contrast to its earlier stance after Mukherjee created national furore by accepting an invitation to visit Nagpur. It accepted its mistake in opposing the leader's visit to the RSS headquarters. The former president's daughter, who is also a Congress spokesperson, had criticised her father's move, telling him that the words he spoke would be forgotten, but the pictures would remain forever for the benefit of the RSS.