Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat’s comment on Wednesday about the practice of stepping aside at the age of 75 has sparked questions from the Opposition about whether he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also step down from their posts.
Bhagwat and Modi will turn 75 in September. The RSS is the parent organisation of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
At an event in Nagpur on Wednesday to launch a book about late RSS ideologue Moropant Pingle, Bhagwat narrated an anecdote about a meeting of the Hindutva organisation in which Pingle was felicitated with a shawl on turning 75.
Bhagwat recounted that when Pingle was asked to address the event, he said: “‘People start laughing at me when I stand...Because I feel that people are not taking me seriously...you felicitated me on turning 75, but I know what it means. When you are honoured with a shawl on turning 75, it means that now you have grown old, now just move aside, let us do it.’”
Following Bhagwat’s comment, the Congress’ communications chief Jairam Ramesh said on Friday that Modi had been reminded by Bhagwat that he will turn 75 in September.
Ramesh added: “But the prime minister could also tell the RSS chief that he too will turn 75 on September 11, 2025! One arrow, two targets!”
Congress MP Abhishek Singhvi said that “preaching without practice is always dangerous”.
“It is unprincipled that the Margdarshak Mandal was given compulsory retirement applying the 75 years age limit but indications are clear that current dispensation will be exempted from this rule,” the Hindustan Times quoted Singhvi as saying.
Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi told ANI that it was a “clear message” that was “directed at the person who is going to celebrate his 75th birthday in September...”
“Whatever is going on between the RSS and the BJP is clearly visible from their statements,” the Rajya Sabha MP said. “When the BJP formed the [Union] government in 2014, they put their leaders who were above the age of 75 years in the ‘Margdarshak Mandali’.”
Chaturvedi added: “Now, RSS is reminding BJP after 11 years about the promises it made. Internal conflicts are now public... Nobody knows the fallout of this conflict...”
The Congress’ publicity chief Pawan Khera said that Bhagwat’s message was “good news” as it meant that the RSS chief and Modi would retire in September.
Uddhav Sena leader Sanjay Raut alleged that Modi had “forced” BJP leaders such as LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Jaswant Singh to retire because they were above the age of 75. “Let’s see if he applies the same rule to himself now,” The Hindu quoted Raut as saying.
Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule told reporters that there was no rule in the BJP that mandates a person to retire at the age of 75, The Indian Express reported.
In the past as well, the BJP has rejected speculation that Modi will step down as the prime minister. In August 2024, party leader Amit Shah said that Modi will be the prime minister if the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance wins the 2029 Lok Sabha polls.
Bhagwat became the RSS chief in 2009. There is no term limit or age limit for the position of the Hindutva organisation’s chief.
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