Should leaders retire at 75? Mohan Bhagwat sparks speculation. ‘What about PM Modi?’ asks Sanjay Raut again
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat has suggested that leaders should retire after 75. Bhagwat’s remark has again prompted opposition politicians to question its implications for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who turns 75 this September.
Bhagwat also turns 75 this year. “When you turn 75, it means you should stop now and make way for others,” Bhagwat said, speaking at a book release event dedicated to late RSS ideologue Moropant Pingle in Nagpur on July 9, according to Hindustan Times.
After releasing the book, ‘Moropant Pinglay: The Architect of Hindu Resurgence,’ Bhagwat recalled that Pingle once said, “If you are honoured with a shawl after turning 75, it means that you should stop now, you are old; step aside and let others come in.”
The RSS chief said that Moropant, despite his devotion to national service, believed in withdrawing gracefully once the age signalled it was time.
Will Modi retire? asks Raut
Some opposition leaders read Bhagwat’s retirement comments as an indirect message to PM Modi.
“PM Modi forced leaders like LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, and Jaswant Singh to retire after they turned 75. Let’s see if he applies the same rule to himself now,” Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut.
Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi said, “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.”
This is not the first time Raut has sparked a debate on PM Modi’s retirement. Earlier in March, the Shiv Sena leader claimed that Modi’s visit to the RSS headquarters in Nagpur — the first by a PM—was to discuss his potential successor’s retirement. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however, denied the speculation.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had dismissed Raut’s claim. Fadnavis said that there is “no need to search” for PM Modi’s successor as he will continue to hold the top post again in 2029.
“In our culture, when the father is alive, it is inappropriate to talk about succession. That is Mughal culture. The time has not come to discuss it,” Fadnavis said.
BJP’s retirement rule at 75?
The timing of Bhagwat’s statement has drawn attention because both he and Prime Minister Modi were born in September 1950 — Bhagwat on the September 11 and Modi on September 17.
In May 2024, ahead of Lok Sabha polls, speculations arose about whetherPM Modi, who was then seeking a third term, would retire upon turning 75 in September 2025.
Opposition parties had been reminding voters about the BJP’s internal ‘no ticket above 75’ rule. The policy has been in place for several years, with Amit Shah saying in 2019 that the BJP had decided not to field any candidates above the age of 75.
“No one above 75 has been given tickets. This is the party’s decision,” Shah had told The Week while campaigning for the 2019 elections.
Shah, however, clarified in May 2023 that there is no retirement clause in the BJP’s constitution. “Modi ji will continue to lead till 2029. There’s no truth in retirement rumours. The INDIA bloc won’t win the upcoming elections with lies,” he said.
On the so-called retirement at 75 rule, Union Minister Rajnath Singh also said: ‘It was never decided. You can write in bold letters that no such decision was taken… I was party president, and I am saying it forcefully that there was no such decision at all. Had it been decided, it would have been mentioned in the party constitution.”
