Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat has sparked a row after suggesting that leaders should retire after the age of 75.
“When you turn 75, it means you should stop now and make way for others,” the Hindustan Times reported, quoting Bhagwat.
He was speaking at a book release event dedicated to the late RSS ideologue Moropant Pingle in Nagpur on Wednesday. Recalling Pingle’s similar sentiment, Bhagwat said that a person should step aside and let others come in after turning 75.
“Moropant Pingle once said that 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 Hindustan Times quoted Bhagwat as saying.
The timing of Bhagwat’s comments is notable, as both he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will turn 75 this September. The opposition has interpreted Bhagwat’s statement as a veiled message to Prime Minister Modi.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi claimed that Bhagwat’s message is clearly directed at the person who is going to celebrate his 75th birthday in September.
“It is a clear message and it is clearly 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. When the BJP formed the government in 2014, they put their leaders above the age of 75 years in the ‘margdarshak mandali’. Now, the RSS is reminding the BJP after 11 years about the promises it made. Internal conflicts are now public. Nobody knows the fallout of this conflict,” ANI quoted Chaturvedi as saying.
Sanjay Raut of Shiv Sena (UBT) noted that PM Modi made leaders like LK Advani and Jaswant Singh retire after 75, and questioned whether he will apply the same rule to himself.
“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,” the Hindustan Times quoted Raut as saying.
Congress Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh claimed that the RSS chief’s remark is a veiled message to PM Modi, who will turn 75 later this year.
“Poor, award-winning Prime Minister! What a homecoming – reminded by the RSS chief upon return that he will turn 75 on September 17, 2025. But the Prime Minister could also tell the RSS chief that he, too, will turn 75 on September 11, 2025! One arrow, two targets!” ANI quoted Ramesh as saying.
