Mumbai: Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray today (Apr 28, 2004) said politicians should retire by the age of 65.

Commenting on a question asked by a journalist on polling day about aging politicians, Thackeray said although he had then replied that he was eyeing to be Prime Minister after turning 80, he actually feels that "politicians should retire when they turn 65".

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"There should be nothing after 65, they should retire then, this is the kind of democracy I dream of," the Sena chief said while addressing the annual general meeting of the Bhartiya Kaamgar Sena in suburban Bandra.

The Sena chief, when asked by journalists recently to comment on aging politicians, had jokingly quipped that by posing such a question they were "hurting him".

"I am 70-plus and I am eyeing to be Prime Minister when I turn 80. As of now 80 years is a pre-requisite to be a Prime Minister," Thackeray had said then in a lighter vein.