The rise of a leader and his enduring popularity

Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi will turn 75 this week. It is a diamond jubilee for a man who lived his formative years in anonymity, dedicated his middle years to organisational work, and the last quarter of his life at the zenith of power, in Gandhinagar and in New Delhi.

- Shashi Shekhar

Till a few weeks ago, September 17 was not just viewed as his birthday but also a kind of ‘D-Day in a political suspense thriller, thanks to some needless sensationalism. The question, based on a comment taken entirely out of context, was whether Modi would retire as PM? Those waiting for a response got their answer on August 28. On that day, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said in New Delhi, “I never said I will retire or someone else should retire.” Returning the favour, PM Modi, in an article on September 11, wished Bhagwat (who also turned 75) on his birthday. It was a meaningless controversy, and it ended abruptly.

Few parties have set an age limit for retirement in India and elsewhere. Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar is 84. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge is 83, and Kerala’s CPM chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan is past 80. The world’s most powerful head of State, US President Donald Trump, is 79. Russian president Vladimir Putin and Chinese president Xi Jinping are in their seventh decade of life.

You may ask why Lal Krishna Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Shanta Kumar, senior leaders in the BJP, were relegated to an amorphous margdarshak mandal on the pretext that they were over 75 years old. The truth is, these BJP leaders weren't as fit or as popular as Modi is. At times, honourable exits are created to ease people out of public life.