PM Modi never said he won't retire at 75: Kejriwal reiterates 'Amit Shah successor' claim

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], May 16 (ANI): Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday repeated his earlier claim that Amit Shah will become the next prime minister after Narendra Modi turns 75 in 2025 and that PM Modi never said that he would not retire when he hits 75 next year.
"When I said these points (PM Modi will retire next year to make way for Union Home Minister Amit Shah) in a press conference in Delhi, Amit Shah and several leaders stated that PM Modi should not resign at 75 and he will be fulfilling his term. I respect their emotions towards their leader. However, PM Modi did not say that he will not retire after turning 75. This is his own rule and I have full hope that he will be following it" Kejriwal said.
Addressing a joint press conference with INDIA bloc partner Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow today, the AAP leader said, "Otherwise, people will say that PM Modi made this rule to remove Advani."
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief reiterated his claim that the Bharatiya Janata Party will be removing Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath from his post to make way for Amit Shah to be the next Prime Minister since PM Modi will be retiring soon as per his party's retirement norms.
"In 2014, PM Modi made a rule that if anyone in the party is 75 years old, he will not be allowed to hold any post in the party or the government and will be made to retire. Following this, Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi were made to retire...PM Modi will turn 75 on September 17, 2025. PM Modi has decided to make Amit Shah his successor and to make him Prime Minister on September 17, 2025. PM Modi is working on it for the last one-two years," Kejriwal said.
"Those leaders who might have created obstacles for Amit Shah in the Bharatiya Janata Party have been sidelined. Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Vasundhara Raje, Dr Raman Singh were sidelined, Devendra Singh, Khattar were finished one by one. There is only one person who may be a thorn in Amit Shah's way and that is Yogi Adityanath. They have made up their mind to remove Yogi Adityanath and if they form the government within two months Yogi Adityanath will be removed from the CM's post," he added.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, however, has expressed confidence of the BJP-led NDA returning to power in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and asserted that PM Modi will continue to lead the BJP even after the next general elections.
"I want to make it clear again, Modiji will remain till 2029. And Kejriwalji, there is no good news for you. Even after 2029, Modiji is our leader. We will contest elections under his leadership," Amit Shah told ANI in an interview that was aired on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Kejriwal addressing today's press conference further said that the BJP will win less than 220 seats in the Lok Sabha election as their seat tally will reduce substantially in states like Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.
"The trends shows that BJP is getting less than 220 seats. Their seats are going to be reduced in Haryana, Delhi, Punjab, Karnataka, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Rajasthan. BJP is not going to form the government," he said.
The Delhi Chief Minister said that the opposition INDIA bloc will win the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and cleanse the country of the "atmosphere of negativity" that was created by the BJP.
"INDIA bloc is going to form the government which will lead the country to progress. The atmosphere of negativity that was created in the country by the BJP will be corrected," Kejriwal said.
Appealing to people in Uttar Pradesh to vote for the INDIA bloc, Kejriwal also said that the BJP if elected to power would be changing the Constitution and remove reservations of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes.
Akhilesh Yadav who was also in the joint press conference made an interesting observation that the BJP is only aiming to win 143 seats, which is 400 deduced from the total of 543 seats.
"The BJP has been defeated and they are in tears. The Bharatiya Janata Party which was giving slogans of '400 Paar' has now understood after four phases of elections...They are giving such slogans because out of a total of 543 seats they are looking only at seats beyond 400, that is 143 seats. So they are claiming themselves that they are not going to win more than 143 seats," Yadav said.
Yadav said that the BJP will even struggle to win 143 seats and will be trapped in the fight to win 99 seats from Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Punjab.
"They will even struggle to get 143 seats from 140 crore people. They will be trapped in the game of 99 seats of Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Punjab. They will not be able to get anything from here," he said.
Kejriwal met Yadav at the latter's party office in Lucknow on Thursday.
The Supreme Court gave interim bail to the Aam Aadmi Party convenor till June 1 ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in the national capital. However, as per the terms of his bail, the Delhi Chief Minister cannot make any comment about his role in the Delhi liquor scam case. (ANI)