‘Salman Khan has Lord Ganesha at his home, respects our culture,’ Maharashtra Deputy CM defends actor’s presence at RSS event | Bollywood News
3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Feb 10, 2026 05:04 PM IST
Salman Khan recently attended ‘100 Years of Sangh Journey: New Horizons’ in Mumbai, triggering criticism from some quarters. However, Maharashtra Deputy CM Eknath Shinde has now said that Salman’s presence at the event must not be politicised.
Speaking to ANI, Shinde said, “Salman Khan attending the RSS event or not attending it—what kind of question is this, and isn’t Salman Khan an Indian citizen? Salman Khan is an Indian citizen; he has Lord Ganesha at his home, does everything, respects our culture, and his family does too.” He added, “I don’t see anything wrong with Salman Khan attending the program of Mohan Bhagwat. It is appropriate, and since he is a Mumbai resident, we shouldn’t politicise his attendance at a Mumbai event.”
At the event, Mohan Bhagwat lauded Salman Khan’s appeal and said, “College students copy Salman Khan’s fashion. When asked why, they say they don’t know. Salman is doing it. The context of good values in society should become a fashion.” Apart from Salman, the event was also attended by Ranbir Kapoor, Vicky Kaushal, Karan Johar, Mohit Suri, Om Raut, Poonam Dhillon and Hema Malini, among others.
Salman Khan’s next release
Salman Khan’s Battle of Galwan will release on April 17.
Salman Khan’s next, Battle of Galwan, is currently scheduled to release in April. However, there have been rumours that the film might get postponed to August, where it will clash with Sunny Deol-starrer Lahore 1947. Produced by Aamir Khan, the film also stars Preity Zinta.
Battle of Galwan’s teaser drew some criticism from the audience upon its release. But, at the recent ISPL event, Salman responded to his critics and said, “Ab kisi ko ye samajh mein aata hai ki ye romantic look hai, lekin Colonel hoon bhaiya. Aur ye Colonel ka look hai, jo ki samajhta hai ki apne team waloon ko, apne jawanon ko kaise hosla dena hai (Now some might think this is a romantic look, but I am a Colonel. And this is the look of a Colonel, who understands how to encourage his team, his soldiers).” He added, “Iss sabka koi matlab hai nahi, iss look ka koi matlab hai nahi. Toh aise hi chalta aaya hai aur aise hi chalta rahega, aap sabki dua se (None of this is required. It has always been this way and it will continue to be, with all your blessings).”
