RSS will select PM Modi’s successor from Maharashtra: Sanjay Raut

Shiv Sena leader claims RSS will choose PM Modi's Maharashtra successor, sparking speculation about BJP leadership change.

“RSS will decide the successor of PM Narendra Modi, and that person will be from Maharashtra,” Shiv Sena UBT leader Sanjay Raut said on Monday.

He added that there was a reason for the PM to visit the RSS headquarters. “Usually, whatever discussions take place in the RSS are behind the closed doors. But there are certain indications,” he said.

Mr. Modi visited the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh headquarters in Nagpur on Sunday, a first by an Indian Prime Minister. He paid tribute to RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar. “The seed of ideology, which was sown 100 years ago, has today grown into a big tree. The principles and values have given a high altitude to this tree, and lakhs of kar sevak are its branches. RSS is India’s banyan tree of immortal culture and modernisation,” he said praising the organisation.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis denied Mr. Raut’s claims saying the country looked at Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister in 2029, and that there was no question of any change.

Mr. Modi will turn 75 years this year, and there is an unwritten rule in the BJP that leaders who are beyond 75-years-old step aside for younger leaders to take over, though there are exceptions. Mr. Yediyurappa continued to be an MLA till he was 80 years.