Botad:

Leaving behind the controversy about his religion that erupted after the entry of his name in ‘non-Hindu’ register during visit of Somnath temple yesterday, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi today again visited an important temple in the state but however avoided the visit to another big temple situated just a few meters away from this one and which belonged to one of the spiritual gurus of PM Narendra Modi.

Rahul reached the Swaminarayan temple run by Shri Gopinathji Devmandir Trust in Gadhada town of Botad district in Saurashtra region and spent around 30 minutes there. The advisor of the temple trust S P Swami welcomed him by putting a turban on his head and garlanding him.

Rahul performed puja in the over a century old temple said to be constructed by the founder of Swaminarayan sect. But he did not go to the nearby temple (around 200 meters away) of the BAPS wing of the Swaminarayan sect where PM Modi had made a flash visit on the Independence day of 2016 to pay tribute to the Pramukh Swami who had left for heavenly abode. The Swami Pramukh was a spiritual guru and guide of PM Modi whom he himself use to address as father. The BAPS wing has built the Akshardham temples in India and abroad. Rahul had this month visited Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar where Modi had also come a few days back on the occasion of its silver jubilee and had given an emotional tribute to late Pramush Swami Maharaj.

The congress leader has so far visited 23 temples in Gujarat in last around 3 months. He has started his election campaign after visiting Jagat temple in Dwarka on September 25.

Rahul on the second and last day of his recent Gujarat visit today also addressed an election rally in Gadhada.

He again attacked BJP and PM Modi with same issues of demonetization, GTS, Nano, unemployment, privatization of education and healthcare facilities and the prices of cotton and groundnut crops.

Taking a jibe he said that the good days have come for only the son of BJP president Amit Shah and a handful of Industrialist friends of Modi ji.

DeshGujarat