New Delhi (TIP)- Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat’s recent statement that leaders should step aside at 75, has stroked a political controversy with Congress and Opposition leaders linking it as a ‘hint’ for Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is turning 75 in September.

During a book launch on senior RSS leader Moropant Pingle in Nagpur on July 9, Mr Bhagwat shared a stance of a Sangh meeting that held in Vrindavan in which Mr Pingle was felicitate with a stole for turning 75 years of age. Quoting Pingle from that event, Mr Bhagwat said that when he was asked to speak at the stage, he stood up and said, “people start laughing at me when I stands…..Because I feel that people are not taking me seriously…..you gave this shawl to me at the age of 75, but I know its meaning. When a shawl is draped at the age of 75, it means that now you have grown old, now just move aside, let us do it. Everything was done with that feeling in mind for his pride, but he was careful not to get attached to that pride.”

Reacting to Bhagwat’s comment, Congress MP and secretary in-charge communications, Jairam Ramesh, took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Poor award-winning Prime Minister! What a homecoming — reminded by the RSS chief upon return that he will turn 75 on September 17, 2025,” Mr Ramesh wrote on X.

Suggesting a way out for the Prime Minister,  Ramesh added, “but the Prime Minister could also tell the RSS chief that — he too will turn 75 on September 11, 2025! One arrow, two targets.”

Congress leader Pawan Khera also said that how both Bhagwat and Modi can ‘pick up the bag and guide each other.’

Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut alleged that  Modi ‘forced’ leaders like L.K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, and Jaswant Singh to retire after they turned 75.