Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday asserted that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) would determine the successor to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He further claimed that the next leader would hail from Maharashtra.
Speaking at a press conference, Raut alleged that Modi had recently visited the RSS headquarters in Nagpur to discuss his retirement plans. “Modi’s successor will be from Maharashtra, and RSS will decide on that,” he stated. “PM Modi visited RSS headquarters to discuss his retirement plans.”
Responding to Raut's claim, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday dismissed speculation about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s successor, asserting that Modi would continue to lead the country for many more years.
Responding to Raut’s claim, Fadnavis told reporters in Nagpur, “In 2029, we will see Modi as the prime minister again.”
Senior RSS leader Suresh ‘Bhaiyyaji’ Joshi also refuted any discussion about Modi’s successor. “There is no need to search for his successor. He (Modi) is our leader and will continue,” Fadnavis said. He further stated that discussing succession while the leader is active is inappropriate in Indian culture. “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,” he said, referring to Raut’s claim that Modi’s successor would come from Maharashtra.
Talking to reporters on Monday, Raut claimed that the RSS wants a change in the political leadership in the country.
“He (Modi) probably went to RSS headquarters to write his retirement application in September,” Raut claimed, alluding to some leaders in the ruling dispensation retiring at 75.
Modi turns 75 in September this year.
On his experiences of incarceration, Raut announced that he had penned a book detailing his time in jail.
“I have written a book on my experiences during my jail term, and it is complete. It will be published in the next 15 days. You can’t say that I will reveal secrets in the book. These are just my experiences during that time inside jail and whatever was happening outside jail during that time,” he explained.
Prime Minister Modi, on Sunday, paid floral tributes to RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar at Smruti Mandir in Reshimbagh, Nagpur. His visit coincided with Varsha Pratipada, which also marks Hedgewar’s birth anniversary.
Modi was accompanied by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, and other dignitaries.
In his first visit to the RSS headquarters in Nagpur after becoming the prime minister 11 years ago, Modi described the Sangh as the ‘banyan tree’ of India’s immortal culture.
Modi became the second sitting PM to visit the RSS headquarters in Nagpur. Atal Bihari Vajpayee had visited it in 2000 during his third term as PM, an RSS official said. This is also Modi’s third term in the top post.
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat also offered tributes to the organisation’s founder. Sangh member Seshadri Chari described the Prime Minister’s visit as “very important and historic.”
“There is no difference of opinion between the RSS and the BJP,” Chari remarked, addressing speculation about their relationship.
“People talk a lot about the relationship between RSS and BJP; before also, they talked about it… there is no difference in opinion between the BJP and the RSS. The people who don’t know anything about the Sangh and the BJP, these people say that there is a difference in opinion between the BJP and the RSS. The people who spread these false things say it for their political benefit,” he stated on Saturday.
Raut’s assertions are likely to spark political debate, particularly against the backdrop of Modi’s visit to the RSS headquarters.
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