Sharad Pawar and the age debate: Why retirement does not concern Indian politicians

“I am still effective, whether I am 82 or 92,” said Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) patriarch Sharad Pawar after a key meeting of party leaders in New Delhi.

The age of the NCP founder has come into the spotlight after spilt in the party following a rebellion by nephew Ajit Pawar. The Junior Pawar, who has now joined the Maharashtra government and was sworn in as deputy chief minister on Sunday, is staking claim to the party and the position of the NCP president. As the two leaders trade barbs, Ajit told his estranged uncle that it was time for him to retire and hand over the reins of the NCP to him.

Sharad Pawar’s age debate

The rebel NCP leader brought up Sharad Pawar’s age while addressing his faction at a meeting in a massive show of strength on Wednesday. “You are 83, aren’t you going to stop? Give us your blessings and we will pray that you live a long life,” Ajit said.

“BJP leaders retire at 75. You can see the example of LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi. This allows the new generation to rise. You (Sharad Pawar) give us your blessings,” he said.

Coming to senior Pawar’s defence was his daughter Supriya Sule. “Amitabh Bachchan is 82 and is still working, she said. “Some people believe that others have grown old and hence, they should just bless them. Why should they bless them? Ratan Tata is three years older than Saheb [Sharad Pawar] and leading the country’s largest group.”

#NCP Chief #SharadPawar Briefs Media on #MaharashtraPolitics

I am the NCP president, party should remain strong; all rebels expelled from the party, he says. I am still effective, whether I am 82 or 92, he added on #AjitPawar‘s age, retirement remarks#NationAt5 @poonam_burde pic.twitter.com/sZZb48u4Tv

— News18 (@CNNnews18) July 6, 2023

But Sule was not the only one. Former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, who is 75, also responded to Ajit’s jibe saying that there was “no retirement age” in politics.

“Will he [Sharad Pawar] retire just because he [Ajit] says? Does an old man ever retire in politics? No retirement in politics,” said Yadav while talking to ANI as he came to New Delhi for a medical check-up on Thursday.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal president is not incorrect. Politicians in India are not bound by age; seldom do they step down voluntarily. It is often health that forces them to take a backseat. And recent history suggests it does not hamper their popularity.

India’s aged netas

Sharad Pawar, who has been a politician for 56 years, is not an exception. Across parties, ageing netas have continued to be active in politics.

Mallikarjun Kharge, at 80, is the Congress president and leads the Grand Old Party, taking key decisions. He was brought in to revive the party’s fortunes after it faced accusations of dynasty politics.

Another former Congress veteran Amarinder Singh continues to hold clout even at 81. After parting ways with the Congress, the former Punjab chief minister formed his own party Punjab Lok Congress in November 2021. He joined the BJP last year ahead of the state Assembly elections.

At 85, Farooq Abdullah continues to remain one of the most flamboyant politicians the country has seen. A member of the National Conference (NC), he has never lost an election from Jammu and Kashmir. Last November, Abdullah hinted that he won’t be seeking a fresh term as president of the NC, a party he led for 34 years. However, he later confirmed that is he not going to retire from active politics.

Abdullah, who has served as chief minister of the state three times and as Srinagar MP four times, has kept his word. He is a member of the Parliament and continues to attend sessions in New Delhi and presides over meetings of his party in Srinagar.

Former Kerala chief minister VS Achuthanandan is 99. He is also the founder of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and he has been active in politics for 85 years. He joined the state Congress in 1938 and the CPI in 1940. He was part of the 32-member team that created the CPI(M) in 1964.

VS, as he is popularly called, served as the CM of Kerala from 2006 to 2011. Aged 82 years and 7 months, he was the oldest chief minister of the state and one of the oldest in the country. He contested the assembly election in 2016 at the age of 92.

The veteran Communist leader faded out of active public life following a minor stroke in 2019. Until then, he continued to be a huge crowd puller, addressing rallies and campaigning for the party in Kerala even at the age of 96.

In a neighbouring state, another nonagenarian continues his work. Former prime minister HD Deve Gowda led the campaign for Janata Dal (Secular) in the Karnataka state Assembly elections in May. Among the oldest star campaigners, the 90-year-old rallied for the party even after being hospitalised months before the elections and has earned the moniker of the “24-hour politician”.

Veteran leaders like Shriomani Akali Dal’s Parkash Singh Badal, DMK’s Karunanidhi, Samajwadi Party’s Mulayam Singh Yadav, and Shiv Sena’s Bal Thackeray continued to be active even as they aged and ailed.

Badal, who died in April at 95, became the oldest politician to contest an election in the country. A year before his death, the five-time Punjab chief minister fought from the Lambi constituency in the state Assembly election but lost from his home turf to AAP’s Gurmeet Singh Khudia. Though a setback, he did not back down and continued his tour. In a career spanning six decades, he is said to have lost only two elections.

Karunanidhi was a larger-than-life figure in Tamil Nadu. A five-time former chief minister of Tamil Nadu, he passed away in August 2018 at the age of 94. He headed the DMK for 49 years until his death. He joined politics when he was only 15 and never lost an election in 61 years.

In Maharashtra, the appeal of Shiv Sena supremo was enduring. He died at the age of 86 on 17 November 2012 but continued to have a mass following until the end. A year before his death, Thackeray addressed the Dussehra rally, a tradition of the party, which shaped its future in the state. And a month before he died, the ailing leader recorded a video message for thousands who would throng Mumbai’s Shivaji Park to hear him.

Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav died at the age of 82 on 10 October 2022. One of UP’s most formidable leaders, he won the Lok Sabha election from Mainpuri in 2019 and during the campaign said that it would be his last election.

Several of these tall regional leaders, who are no more, had a mass appeal that the next generation has been unable to match.

BJP’s unsaid retirement rule

However, in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) things work differently. The ruling party has an unsaid rule of retiring politicians from ministerial and organisational positions once they turn 75. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has hinted in the past that leaders above 75 should not hold administrative posts in the central and state governments.

Party veterans LK Advani and MM Joshi have taken a backseat. Even before the 2014 Lok Sabha election, senior leaders like Yashwant Sinha, Jaswant Singh and Shatrugan Sinha were not given party tickets despite their revolt. In August 2016, Anandiben Patel stepped down as Gujarat’s chief minister at 74.

BS Yediyurappa resigned as Karnataka CM in July 2021 at the age of 78. Though he continued to campaign for the party in the state elections, his age is believed to be the reason he has taken a step back.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be 73 during the 2024 general elections. It remains to be seen what he does once he turns 75. One thing is certain, he enjoys immense popularity and there is no stopping him.

After all, in Indian politics, age is just a number.

With inputs from agencies