RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat: BJP and Modi alone will decide the next PM

Chennai: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat on Tuesday clarified that the question of who will succeed Narendra Modi as Prime Minister is strictly a matter for Modi and the BJP to decide.

Speaking at an event organised as part of the RSS centenary celebrations, Bhagwat declined to participate in debates over Modi’s successor. “Some questions are beyond my purview. I cannot comment on them. I can only convey my good wishes. Who comes after Modi is something the BJP and Modi alone must decide,” he stated.

This marks the second time in four months that Bhagwat has refrained from commenting on issues related to retirement at 75 years and succession in the BJP. In August, he had clarified that he had never prescribed that leaders must retire at 75. The debate resurfaced in September after Modi crossed the 75-year threshold, prompting the BJP to assert that there is no written rule mandating retirement at a certain age.

Devotees should manage temples:

At the same programme, Bhagwat also addressed the management of temples, stating that “it is widely accepted by the public and judicial opinion that devotees should manage temples. Currently, the government runs them.”

He acknowledged that while some private individuals manage certain temples efficiently, some governments also do so effectively. To address these challenges, Bhagwat suggested the creation of a structured mechanism involving the All India Committee, State Committees, District Committees, and Local Committees.

“Once this mechanism is in place, questions regarding whether temples should be managed by the government or devotees will be resolved. There is a general consensus that devotees should manage temples, and we need to work more actively on this,” he said.

Bhagwat’s remarks reinforce the RSS stance on temple management while maintaining a cautious distance from political succession discussions within the BJP.

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