By Sushil Kutty
RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat turning 75 is dogging Prime Minister Narendra Modi turning 75 except that if anybody’s dogging anybody, it is Prime Minister Modi who is younger than Bhagwat by a few days apart. But if anybody’s dogging anybody then it is Bhagwat for whom Modi turning 75 is cause for getting agitated. Given the option, the RSS Chief wouldn’t mind turning Modi-turning 75 into a controversy.
Yep, Mohan Bhagwat has wittingly or unwittingly turned Modi turning 75 into a cause celebre and a question mark? The RSS boss has been on the job for a whole week and more, linking Modi turning 75 into something of a miracle, why, why, and why? It can’t be that Bhagwat is angry that Modi would turn 75 in the same month Mohan Bhagwat also has his birthday pinned to the calendar.
Some folks are strange with fetishes attached but Mohan Bhagwat takes the cake, the birthday cake, if you may. Now because Bhagwat has butted in with chocolate and sugar, a mixture of the two baked in the oven with ‘Happy Birthday Modi’ on it, the Opposition is thrilled they didn’t have to raise Cain: Why is Modi not foreclosing on his retirement?
There is a raging retirement age row dogging Modi and RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat is partially responsible. Also, the Congress is using Bhagwat’s remarks on Modi’s 75th birthday to target the Prime Minister, asking why is Modi sticking to the Prime Minister’s chair when it was Modi who had set an age limit of 75 years for BJP politicians.
The Opposition found Bhagwat’s remarks handy to attack Prime Minister Modi. And the Congress called for PM Modi’s “retirement”, a la other “over the hill” BJP politicians like Lal Krishna Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, both of whom were consigned to the BJP’s ‘Marg Darshak Mandal’, which is a sort of imaginary old-age home for BJP retirees.
It is another matter that nobody wants admission in the ‘Marg Darshak Mandal’, not if they had any iota of self-respect in them. But the spectre of Modi stood in the way to help them along and that’s all that is required. Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself may not be passing through the gates of Marg Darshak Mandal, not in the near future.
For Prime Minister Narendra Modi age is “just a number”. And perhaps that is what pursues Mohan Bhagwat. The RSS Chief appears to be a person with a strong sense of ‘justice’, an equal-opportunity person. In Bhagwat’s book, Modi doesn’t deserve any more or any less than Murli Manohar Joshi or LK Advani: BJP politicians should step aside on their own once they celebrate age 75, period.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh posted on ‘X’, calling Prime Minister Modi a “poor award-winning Prime Minister!”, adding “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!”
Not to be left behind, the grand old party’s Pawan Khera took up the baton, saying both Prime Minister Modi and the RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat should “pick up their bags” and leave office. “Now both of you pick up the bag and go guide each other,” Khera said, having no great understanding of the English language. Khera should have used “pack up” your bags instead of “pick up”, but then Khera is no Tharoor!
There is a question, though: Should there be a retirement age for politicians? Yes, say those politicians who expect to live up to a 100 and are still counting. What might trouble Prime Minister Narendra Modi and RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat is the likelihood of LK Advani living on and on! But politicians stick to political correctness and say nice things like “it allows injection of fresh leadership.”
Also words like “experience matters”, which is where Prime Minister Modi counts. Among those who have a strong desire to see the back of Prime Minister is Shiv Sena (UBT) gadfly, Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut, who has been sounding off on the Prime Minister’s age like a caged parrot for the last couple of weeks. The most interested politicians include Khera, Jairam Ramesh and Raut and not necessarily in that order!
Whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi will apply the same retirement rule to his own self or skip the exception and move on to be himself like he has always. Modi irks other politicians by being himself and the Rauts and Kheras, who are there for only nuisance sake, do not cotton to such tactics for the simple reason that they can’t do zilch to Modi except come with ‘X’ posts.
So Modi sidelined senior BJP leaders after they turned 75, what is Sanjay Raut and Uddhav Thackeray going to do about it? Leaders like LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, and Jaswant Singh were “sidelined”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi isn’t a fool to use the formula on himself. Even asking the question is an idiot’s errand. “Let’s see if he applies the same rule to himself now” is such an idiotic question.
But what if Mohan Bhagwat is asking the question, shouldn’t Modi step aside at 75? What are the implications for Prime Minister Modi, for Mohan Bhagwat, for the Modi government, for the BJP and for India? Bhagwat was speaking at a book launch: “When you turn 75, it means you should stop now and make way for others.” Mohan Bhagwat should apply the rule to himself and then Modi won’t have an excuse. But Mohan Bhagwat is no birthday boy and Modi is a playboy with a halo. (IPA Service)
