Denying Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut’s claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would step down and retire from politics, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday said it is not part of the Sanatan culture to discuss the heir of the family in the presence of the father.
“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, adding that senior BJP star leader “will continue to lead the country for years”.
Fadnavis further assured that in 2029, India will see Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister again.
“There is no need to search for his successor. He (Modi) is our leader and will continue,” Maharashtra CM told reporters in Nagpur.
The Maharashtra leader was responding to Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Sanjay Raut’s claims that PM Modi was planning to retire and that his successor would be chosen by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. (RSS)
Earlier in the day, Sanjay Raut, a Shiv Sena (UBT) MP, said that Prime Minister Modi visited the RSS headquarters in Nagpur to discuss retirement plans.
“Modi’s successor will be from Maharashtra, and RSS will decide on that,” Raut told reporters in a press conference.
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On Sunday, Prime Minister Modi visited Nagpur, where he paid floral tribute to the Sangh founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar at Smruti Mandir in Reshimbagh.
He was accompanied by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and other leaders.
RSS leader responds to Raut’s claims’
Speaking to reporters in Nagpur, senior RSS leader Suresh ‘Bhaiyyaji’ Joshi said he is not aware of any talk of the PM’s replacement.
Asked about Raut’s claim that RSS will select PM Modi’s successor from Maharashtra, Bhaiyyaji Joshi said, “I don’t have any such information.”
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On Modi’s visit to Dr Hedgewar Smruti Mandir in RSS headquarters, Joshi said, “I feel that his coming here yesterday and laying the foundation stone for Madhav Netralaya centre building has elevated the institute’s stature. Similarly, his visit as a swayamsevak (RSS volunteer) to Reshimbagh on the occasion of Sangh founder K B Hedgewar’s birth anniversary was very nice.”
Why is talk of PM Modi’s retirement buzzing?
Prime Minister Modi turns 75 in September this year, and ever since his last election victory, opposition parties have been reminding voters about the BJP’s internal ‘no ticket above 75’ rule.
(with inputs from PTI and ANI)