Former president and Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee will on Thursday attend a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) programme in Nagpur and address their workers.
A political slugfest had erupted after Mukherjee accepted an invite from the RSS to be the chief guest at its 'Tritiya Varsha Sangh Shiksha Varg' (cadres training programme).
While several Congress leaders urged him to reconsider his decision, many said that his visit would create an "undesirable difference" in the country.
Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram said that since Mukherjee has accepted the invitation, he should go and tell the RSS "what is wrong" in their ideology.
Ramesh Chennithala, a senior Congress leader from Kerala, last week sent a letter to Mukherjee, requesting him to refrain from attending the event.
Chennithala, also leader of the opposition in Kerala assembly, had said Mukherjee's decision had come as a "rude shock" to the secular minds of the country.
"As a person who has served as the first citizen of our country and the greatest ambassador of secularism, I request you to reconsider your decision to attend the RSS meet on June 7, 2018," said Chennithala in his letter.
West Bengal Congress chief Adhir Chowdhury and senior Congress leader V. Hanumantha Rao too, had urged Mukherjee not to attend the event.
"I am really surprised to hear about the decision of Pranab Mukherjee to attend RSS's programme in Nagpur. Just like any other Congressman, I am really astonished to hear about it," said Chowdhury.
"My question is does he (Mukherjee) think his previous comments against RSS were wrong... We still remember how Pranab Mukherjee as a senior leader of the Congress had criticized RSS as a communal and a divisive organisation," he said.
also read
Hanumantha Rao, the AICC Secretary and former Rajya Sabha member, said the former president should withdraw his decision" in the interest of secularism".
Mukherjee, who had held the highest post of President, should not attend the meeting of RSS as it is a "communal" organisation, Rao had added.
Veteran Congressman C.K. Jaffer Sharief also had sent a letter to Mukherjee, expressing surprise over the move and said he, like other secular people, was "stunned" to hear about his attending the RSS function.
Earlier, the RSS said that it is the greatness of the former president to accept their invitation.
Mukherjee has said that he would reveal his thoughts on the matter during the event itself.
Mahatma Gandhi, former president Zakir Husain, activist Jayaprakash Narayan and commander-in-chief of the Indian Army, Kodandera M. Cariappa had previously been guests at various RSS events.