Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], August 29 (ANI): Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Rai on Friday hit out at Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat over his recent remark suggesting that families should have three children.

Taking a swipe at the Sangh, Rai said if Bhagwat truly believed in the idea, he should first ask RSS members to marry and follow it themselves.

'If the Sangh is saying this, then Mohan Bhagwat ji should immediately issue a directive to all RSS members to get married and follow what he has said. In Sangh, everyone is roaming unmarried,' Rai quipped.

On the RSS chief's other statement that political leaders should retire at the age of 75, Rai alleged that the BJP and RSS had earlier used such rules to sideline senior leaders.

'This limit is set by their people only. This rule is being formed just to put L.K. Advani and M.M. Joshi in Margdarshak Mandal for their political murder. And now, when their time has come, they are saying nothing like this. So, this is a double standard of RSS, and the public is watching this,' the Congress leader said.

Bhagwat, while addressing the centenary celebrations of RSS in New Delhi on Thursday, had said every Indian citizen should consider having three children. He said that population growth could be both an asset and a burden, but a stable birth rate will help keep the population in control while maintaining an acceptable level.

'Our country's population policy recommends 2.1 children, on average. But when one has children, then they don't have 0.1 children. In maths, 2.1 is 2, but with the birth of children after 2, it is 3, which is why 2.1 means 3. Every citizen should see that there should be three children in his/her family,' the RSS chief said.

'This is a vision for the country. Secondly, there is also a concern. A population is an asset, but it can also be a burden. We have to feed everyone, which is why the population policy recommends this. In one way, the population is controlled, and on the other hand, it is sufficient; that is why 3 (children) should happen, but after that, it should not increase too much, looking at giving them a good upbringing. This is a thing to be accepted by everyone,' Bhagwat said.

He added that the decreasing birth rate was visible across communities, including among Hindus.

The RSS chief's remarks come ahead of the government's preparation for the 2027 Census, which will provide fresh demographic data since 2011. A recent United Nations report on the state of the world's population has warned that India's birth rate has declined to 1.9, below the target of 2.1. (ANI)