Never said I or someone else should retire at 75: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Thursday clarified his ‘retirement at 75’ remark widely seen as a reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he didn’t say he or someone else should retire.

“At the Sangh function in Nagpur, I was quoting a witticism by Moropant ji (senior Sangh leader Moreshwar Nilkanth Pingle aka ‘Moropant’) about how when someone gives you a ceremonial shawl at 75, you should think of retirement…I never said I will or someone else should retire,” Bhagwat said while addressing a press conference on ‘100 Years of RSS Journey’ in New Delhi.

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He, however, stated that RSS workers are always ready for both – to retire at any age and work as long as the organisation wants them to work.

“I cannot say I have completed 75 years, so I want to enjoy retirement benefits. There are no benefits in the Sangh. And even if I am 35, and told to sit at a desk, we do. We don’t say, ‘I want this. I want to do this.’ No. Not allowed,” said Bhagwat.

Further elaborating on the leadership change in the Sangh, Bhagwat said that while he is the ‘Sarsanghchalak’ (the organisational post of RSS chief), there are at least 10 people qualified for the job in the same hall.

“Anytime they can take this mantle and carry on. But they are very busy and their contribution is valuable, and they cannot be spared. I was the one who can be spared. So, this is not for retirement of anybody or myself,” he added.

Bhagwat also denied having any quarrel with Narendra Modi-led government. He, however, admitted there might be some struggle between the RSS and the BJP but their goal remains the same.

“Struggle might be there but there is no quarrel. When we talk of compromise, the struggle deepens… the goal is the same… There may be opinions, but we discuss, a collective decision gets taken,” he said.

Responding to a pointed question about the notion that it is the RSS that decides everything, including the appointment of the BJP president, he dismissed it as completely wrong and not remotely possible.

“It is completely wrong to say that everything is decided by the Sangh, it is not possible… I have been running a shakha for 50 years now. If someone gives me advice about that, I am the expert there. When it comes to running the state, they have been doing it for long, hence they are the experts. We know each other’s areas of expertise… Suggestions can be given, but the decision in their field is theirs, and in our field, it is ours,” he said, adding, “Would it have taken this long if we were the ones deciding?”