Will Congress build against Narendra Modi on retire-at-75 rule?

The country's politics has emerged with a major and politically loaded question against the ruling dispensation BJP. Will Narendra Modi retire at 75? To give this age-rule a momentum, the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat himself publicly proposed the idea of compliance towards retirement-at-75 recently.

Strategically, Congress may raise questions about succession. If Modi does retire, is there a clear second line of leadership? According to analysts, this uncertainty can be used to paint the BJP as overly dependent on one individual, undermining its claims of being a cadre-based party.

Above all, the RSS-BJP equation may be a critical subtext in view of the Congress party's approach. According to Congress insiders, Bhagwat’s earlier remarks could be invoked to suggest that even the Sangh is uncomfortable with Modi’s centralised, personality-driven politics.

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on his way to 75th birthday on September 17, 2025, the Congress and the broader opposition is sharpening its knives to build an impactful narrative against the BJP commander Narendra Modi by questioning his commitment to the BJP rulebook - where a person has to retire from his politico-organisational responsibilities by the age of 75.

This September, as both Modi and Bhagwat reach the symbolic age of 75, Congress could use the moment to press the BJP on accountability, transition, and the credibility of its own standards.

Meanwhile, Sanjay Raut was the first in the Opposition camp to have laid the groundwork for a broader opposition narrative by pointing out that Narendra Modi had once sidelined senior BJP leaders like Murli Manohar Joshi, L.K. Advani and Jaswant Singh, after they reached the age of 75.

According to media reports, Raut questioned whether Modi would apply the same standard to himself. Echoing this sentiment, the Congress also suggested that the recent remark was a thinly veiled jab at the Prime Minister, who turns 75 later this year.

Bhagwat, who also turns 75 this 11 September, had in the past as well remarked that people in positions of power should step aside at 75 to make space for younger leadership.

India