Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said that Narendra Modi will retain his position as the Prime Minister of India for a third term. Shah’s comments were a direct response to the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who took a swipe at BJP by saying that PM Modi, turning 75 next year, will give his position to Amit Shah after September 17, which happens to be his birthday.
"I want to tell Arvind Kejriwal and the INDIA alliance that there is no need to be happy about Modiji turning 75. It is not written in the Constitution of the BJP that Modiji cannot become Prime Minister. He will again become Prime Minister and complete the term," Amit Shah said while addressing a press conference in Hyderabad.
Taking a swipe at Modi, the AAP leader raised a question over BJP's future Prime Ministerial candidate. He cited the unwritten rule made by Modi in 2014 about retiring individuals aged over 75 from politics. "PM Modi is turning 75 on September 17. He made a rule that leaders in the party would retire after 75 years. Lal Krishna Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Sumitra Mahajan, and Yashwant Sinha have retired, and now PM Modi is going to retire on September 17," Kejriwal said.
Kejriwal's comments were made while he was out on an interim bail, which expires on June 1, to participate in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, where three out of the seven phases have already been completed. In response, Amit Shah assured reporters that Kejriwal's claims were baseless and there were no intentions of PM Modi retiring when he turns 75.
In response to Kejriwal's remark, BJP National President JP Nadda dismissed Delhi CM's comments in an X post. "Now they are looking for a way out by making an excuse of Modi Ji's age. There is no such provision regarding age anywhere in the constitution of the BJP... Modi ji is our leader and will continue to lead us in the future too," Nadda said.
Amit Shah cautioned Arvind Kejriwal not to view interim bail as exoneration. He emphasized that the bail is temporary until June 1, after which Kejriwal must present himself before the authorities. Shah suggested that if Kejriwal sees this as clearance, his grasp of the law is lacking.