Exclusive: India’s largest far-right Hindu organization hires U.S. lobbyists for congressional influence campaign (Prism Reports)

By Meghnad Bose and Biplob Kumar Das

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), India’s largest Hindu far-right organization, initiated a well-funded lobbying effort in the U.S. earlier this year, a Prism investigation has found.

Prism is the first news outlet to report that Squire Patton Boggs, one of the top lobbying firms in the U.S., registered as a lobbyist on Jan. 16 for the RSS, according to lobbying disclosures. In the first three quarters of 2025, Squire Patton Boggs received $330,000 to lobby officials in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives on behalf of the RSS, according to lobbying reports. This marks the first time the RSS has hired lobbyists in the U.S., according to public records.

In September, the RSS marked 100 years since its founding in 1925. The organization was established to promote what critics and human rights groups describe as a Hindu state; its followers have been accused of targeting Muslims and other minorities with discrimination, harassment, and violence. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s political party emerged from the RSS, and Modi himself was once a worker for the organization.

The RSS’s lobbying efforts in Washington, D.C., raise questions among experts on foreign influence operations about how the RSS has been able to conduct its activities without identifying as a foreign entity or without Squire Patton Boggs registering under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), a 1938 law that requires transparency from representatives of foreign interests. Public records confirm that neither Squire Patton Boggs nor any other organization is registered as an agent for the RSS under FARA. It is unclear whether Squire Patton Boggs is required to register as a foreign agent of the RSS.

The day after this story was published, a spokesperson for the RSS posted on X about Prism’s findings. “Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh works in Bharat and has not engaged any lobbying firm in United States of America,” said Sunil Ambekar, using the Hindi word for India.

Squire Patton Boggs did not respond to Prism’s request for comment.

The paperwork—filed under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (LDA), a transparency law for activities to influence the federal government—does not list the RSS as Squire Patton Boggs’ direct client. Rather, the client is State Street Strategies doing business as the lobbying firm One+ Strategies on behalf of the RSS.

This story was originally published in prismreports.org. Read the full story here.