Bhagwat vs Modi: Is the 75-Age Rule Tearing the Sangh Parivar Apart?

The Hindu

6 days ago

Published : Jul 17, 2025 18:40 IST - 10 MINS READ
The elephant in the room has reared its head and called out loud and clear. The sarsanghchalak (chief) of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Mohan Bhagwat, who is no stranger to catalysing controversy with his statements, both within the Sangh Parivar and outside, caused more than a ripple or two with his reference to the late RSS stalwart Moropant Pingle's assertion that people in public life should leave the centre stage after turning 75.
With this, what was discussed and commented on in political circles, also written and spoken about in the media, has now been introduced in the discourse within the Hindutva fraternity: both Bhagwat and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are soon entering that magical year when they could declare that they are now 'tired and retired', six days apart in 2025, the former on September 11 and the latter on September 17. The question after Bhagwat's stunning statement, made at a function to release a biography on the deceased leader, is direct—has the RSS publicly given a call for Modi's resignation in his 75th year to allow the BJP, after due consultation with the RSS, to choose the next Prime Minister?
There is a case for the contention that the opposition and media is reading too much into Bhagwat's anecdotal rendering of an assertion by one of the tallest RSS leaders of the 1980s and early 1990s: Pingle after all oversaw the Hindutva camp's 'operation demolition' in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh on December 6, 1992.
For starters, the RSS media affiliate, Vishwa Samvad Kendra, writes that it is incorrect to view a fragment of Bhagwat's speech 'through the lens of contemporary politics to target the age of politicians, misconstruing it as a comment directed at those currently in politics'.
Second, Union Home Minister Amit Shah unambiguously declared last year that Modi would continue as Prime Minister, at least till the end of his third term (2029). The statement was made in response to Arvind Kejriwal's provocative remark that a vote for the BJP was a vote for Shah to become Prime Minister.
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And there is a third factor too: that Bhagwat and Modi share a five-decade-plus relationship built on mutual admiration and trust. Additionally, Modi considered Bhagwat's father, Madhukar Rao, a revered and inspiring RSS leader. In his 2008 book, Jyotipunj, Modi profiled several iconic RSS leaders and the senior Bhagwat was featured along with luminaries such as M.S. Golwalkar and Lakshman Rao Inamdar, Modi's own guru.
Modi wrote glowingly about his interactions with Bhagwat's father during his 'infancy' in the RSS and also showered praise on the son: 'The touch of the Parasmani [Philosopher's Stone] turns iron into gold, but it cannot turn a piece of iron into another Parasmani. The story of Madhukar Rao and Mohan Rao [father-son duo] overturns this. Parasmani Madhukar Rao prepared Parasmani Mohan Rao', he wrote, the lines underscoring his regard for the current sarsanghchalak.
It is not that the admiration between the two flowed in one direction only. After the 2012 Assembly election in Gujarat, won by the BJP under Modi's stewardship, the party began revving up for the 2014 Parliamentary election. The most crucial issue was choosing a prime ministerial candidate and there were several actors in the fray, including veteran L.K. Advani who still fancied his chances. But few in the party backed him, as he had been bluntly asked to step aside after the party's poor performance in 2009 with Advani as the party's electoral mascot. Importantly Bhagwat, after becoming the sarsanghchalak in March 2009, had informed Advani that the election that year would be his last chance. After the BJP won the lowest number of seats it had since 1991, the unwritten rule of '75 years as the age limit for offices across (sic) the Parivar' was introduced by Bhagwat.
The ideological fountainhead
With Advani out of the race in the minds of all but himself, other claimants put their hands up, the most prominent being Modi. Eventually, Modi's selection—first as poll panel chief in June 2013 and thereafter as prime ministerial candidate in September 2013—was agreed upon, but only after Bhagwat's all-important nod.
The RSS chief and the other leaders in the organisation and the BJP, with the exception of Advani, M.M. Joshi, Sushma Swaraj, and a handful of others, backed Modi despite his track record of seizing complete control of the BJP in Gujarat on becoming Chief Minister in October 2001. He also kept the RSS at arm's length from the party and the State government, establishing functional autonomy from the ideological fountainhead.
Despite the Chief Minister consciously promoting the Modi cult—for instance with masks of his face especially designed for the 2007 assembly election and again in 2012, Bhagwat endorsed his candidature. He did so because the Sangh Parivar had been out of power for a decade and he sensed a groundswell of support for Modi across large swathes of India.
As the 2014 verdict proved, Modi led the BJP into becoming the first party since 1984 to secure a Parliamentary majority on its own without depending on coalition partners. Both the RSS and the BJP came to terms with the Modi-centrism of the government as well as the party. An early warning sounded by Advani, Joshi, and other veterans, who wrote a publicly released letter in November 2015 to Shah, the then party president, fell by the wayside. Their accusation, that the party was 'emasculated' after 2014 and 'forced to kow-tow to a handful', and that its 'consensual character had been destroyed' fell on deaf ears, and eventually the so-called margdarshaks (guides or mentors) became mere props for Modi on their birthdays.
Bhagwat and the RSS leaders accepted this, because Modi remained diligently committed to the Hindutva ideology, fulfilled key programmes and objectives, and positioned people from the Sangh Parivar in crucial state institutions and bodies, especially education and culture. Despite the grand consecration ceremony of the Ram temple on the eve of the launch of the electoral campaign, where not just the lines of separation between the state and religion were completely erased but where Bhagwat, as chief of the RSS, was given pride of place during the rituals, the RSS maintained a distance from the election campaign. The participation of swayamsevaks remained lukewarm and it cast a shadow on the results: the BJP failed to get Parliamentary majority on its own and fell back on coalition partners.
Bhagwat's cutting comments
Modi tried to brazen it out and, obviously at his prompting, J.P. Nadda made an overzealous declaration in the middle of campaigning that the BJP no longer 'needed' the RSS; that it was 'capable' of running its own affairs, including securing electoral victory. The claim was preceded by the central BJP slogan—'Modi Ki Guarantee'—a coinage that echoed a 1980 election slogan: 'Indira ji ki baat par, mohar lagegi haath par.' (Because Indira says so, the vote be for the Congress).
While never publicly stated last year that RSS swayamsevaks had stayed lukewarm during the campaign compared to their enthusiasm in 2014 and 2019, the results underscored it. And, if doubts remained, Bhagwat made a series of cutting comments where he named no one, but even political newbies knew who he inferred was not a 'true sevak'.
Not just Bhagwat, but lesser beings such as the former Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu, and senior RSS functionaries Indresh Kumar and Ram Madhav took potshots at unnamed targets for various failures. Naidu in the early years of Modi's tenure termed him 'God's gift to India', yet had the courage to say that the verdict taught everyone that 'work for the downtrodden, taking care of the oppressed, suppressed and depressed people, should be at the top of our minds', suggesting that it was being ignored by the Modi government.
After government formation, it was clear that an enfeebled Modi would require the enthusiastic participation of the RSS network in the Assembly election, then due in Haryana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Delhi. Not only did RSS swayamsevaks campaign for the BJP, but Modi's presence was scaled down. Despite that, it became evident that even the RSS was a beneficiary of the BJP being in power and was dependent on Modi for entrenchment in institutions and influencing policy since, notwithstanding the electoral setback, he remained India's most popular leader.
The question was elementary: Would Modi secure functional autonomy, as in Gujarat, or until 2024? Or would the RSS be able to ensure that Modi agreed to a consensual or collegial style of functioning? The choice of the next BJP president emerged as a contentious issue, as Modi was of the view that his writ should run in selecting the leader, as in 2014 and 2019. In contrast, the RSS viewpoint was that the choice should be agreeable to both and for that, widespread discussions were imperative.
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In the last week of March, when Modi belatedly went to the RSS Smriti Bhavan in Nagpur and joined an RSS-linked event with Bhagwat, it appeared that he had reconciled to consensually evolving key decisions with the RSS leadership. Operation Sindoor, however, changed that and the military exchange with Pakistan after the terrorist strike, Modi believed, had restored his popularity to previous levels. Quite clearly, this has delayed the selection of the BJP president. The choice, whenever announced, will be a clear pointer to how this round of tussles has squared off.
There is little doubt that despite their decades-long association, the priorities of both men are personal leverage for Modi and the supremacy of the Sangh for Bhagwat. Barring Modi's pursuit of economic neo-liberalism and his political pragmatism, there is little to distinguish between the two. Undeniably, the possibility of Bhagwat and Modi walking into the sunset at almost the same time is not imminent.
From the festival of Dussehra this year, the centenary celebrations of the RSS will begin in real earnest and last until Vijaya Dashami in 2026. Bhagwat may like this to be his swansong, even if Modi displays no signs of budging, contending that 'retirement at 75' is not a firm rule and that not all sarsanghchalaks bowed out of office on completing 75. Despite undeniable ambiguity on the matter, Modi's moral standing within the Sangh Parivar will take a beating, however slight, in the event of Bhagwat bowing out of office and Modi staying put amid a cacophony of prompted 'requests'.
Consternation in the Modi camp
A key factor that could make the path bumpy for Modi is the RSS reaching the conclusion that support for Hindutva among the people has acquired a critical mass, making the role of an individual leader less crucial. Modi's continuance in office depends on being considered absolutely essential for securing the BJP's victory in 2029 and maybe even ahead. Given Modi's instinctive character and the tenets of the RSS, especially its principle of putting sangathan over vyakti, it is extremely unlikely that the two can work harmoniously for long periods.
Consequently, the only conclusion that can possibly be drawn at this point is that the RSS, and more so Bhagwat, will continue to make statements that cause awkwardness and consternation in the Modi camp. Internal dynamics within the Sangh Parivar have been unsettled since early 2024 and will likely remain so over the year.
Author and journalist Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay has authored several books including a biography of PM Narendra Modi, on the RSS, and on the Ayodhya dispute.