Referencing to the political row over his visit to Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud’s home for Ganesh Puja, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the Congress and its “ecosystem” was angry with him for taking part in Ganesh Puja.
Addressing a rally in Bhubaneswar, PM Modi made the comment in an apparent reference to the criticism by the opposition parties for participating in Ganesh Puja rituals at the residence of CJI D Y Chandrachud.
“Ganesh Utsav is not just a festival of faith for our country. It played a very important role in the freedom movement,” he said.
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“Even at that time, the British who followed the policy of divide and rule used to hate Ganesh Utsav. Even today, the power-hungry people who are busy in dividing and breaking society are having problems with Ganesh Puja. You must have seen that the people of Congress and its ecosystem are angry because I participated in Ganesh Puja,” he added.
The Prime Minister visited CJI Chandrachud’s home on September 10 on the occasion of Ganesh Puja. He also shared a photograph of offering prayers to the deity with the Chief Justice and his wife Kalpana Das.
“Joined Ganesh Puja at the residence of CJI, Justice DY Chandrachud Ji. May Bhagwan Shri Ganesh bless us all with happiness, prosperity and wonderful health,” the Prime Minister said in an X post.
The visuals drew strong remarks from a section of the Opposition. Some leaders criticised the meeting, with one saying it sends an “uncomfortable message”.
Sanjay Raut, Rajya Sabha MP and a leader of Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) said such meetings raise doubts. He suggested that the Chief Justice should recuse himself from a case linked to the tussle between Shiv Sena UBT and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.
While the Congress’s national leadership did not publicly comment on the Prime Minister’s visit, its Mumbai unit responded to BJP leaders drawing parallels between the Prime Minister’s visit to the Chief Justice’s home and a visit by the then Chief Justice to an iftar party hosted by former PM Manmohan Singh.
“What they (BJP) fail to understand is the fundamental difference between a public event like an Iftar, held transparently in front of the media and the public, and a private religious ceremony at someone’s residence, conducted away from public scrutiny,” the Mumbai Congress said in a post on X.
During his address in Bhubaneswar, PM Modi also said that Lord Ganesh was “put behind bars” in Karnataka by these people.
(With inputs from PTI)