'PM Modi in 2029 too': Maha CM Fadnavis shoots down Sanjay Raut's claims of change

Mumbai, March 31 (IANS) Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday held that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is quite capable and there is no need to find his successor now, rejecting Shiv Sena-UBT MP Sanjay Raut’s claims that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) would decide who comes after him and could be someone from Maharashtra.

“PM Modi can work for many more years. The country is looking at him as the Prime Minister in 2029 (the next general elections). Therefore, it will not be right to have such a discussion now. It is not the tradition of our country to find a successor for his father while he is alive,” Fadnavis said.

Earlier, Raut told reporters that PM Modi’s visit to the RSS headquarters on Sunday was linked to his political future. “PM Modi had never visited the RSS headquarters, but this time, he had gone there and met the RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat to say ‘Tata-Bye-Bye’, he claimed.

Raut alleged that the RSS is making a strong pitch for change in the leadership at the national level, and will decide the PM Modi’s successor, who will be someone from Maharashtra. Raut also claimed that RSS wants to select the BJP’s next national President, saying that PM Modi’s Nagpur visit could be to discuss the issue with the organisation’s leadership.

Visiting the RSS headquarters on Sunday, PM Modi said that RSS is not just any banyan tree, it is the modern ‘Akshay Vat Vriksh’ of India’s immortal culture, and the organisation is synonymous with service.

He praised the RSS’s selfless service in various spheres and its role in nation-building, social service, and cultural preservation.

PM Modi’s move to praise the work of RSS and its swayamsevaks in nation building comes at a time when the RSS recently announced that it would celebrate its centenary year by organising several events for 12 months – from the Vijayadasami Day.

Earlier, PM Modi visited Dr Hedgewar Smruti Mandir in Nagpur and paid floral tributes at memorials dedicated to RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar and second sarsanghchalak (chief) M. S. Golwalkar.

–IANS

SJ / VD