Modi refuses to give his blessings for temple in his honour

A group of ardent supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided to not go ahead and inaugurate a temple erected in his honour near Rajkot, after Modi on Thursday tweeted his displeasure.

The temple was constructed by Om Yuva Group at Kotharia, a small village on the outskirts of Rajkot.

Modi on Thursday said he was appalled by the reports of a temple being built in his name and asked the people concerned to invest time and resources in fulfilling his dream of a clean India. The prime minister said in a series of tweets: “Have seen the news about a temple being built in my name. I was appalled. This is shocking & against India’s great traditions. Building such temples is not what our culture teaches us. Personally, it made me very sad. Would urge those doing it not to do it.”

The temple was built two years ago. It initially had a photograph of Modi. The group, which used to conduct mass marriages among various Hindu groups, had spent about Rs 1.70 lakh to make an idol of the PM. The money was donated by Ramesh Undhad, who heads the group.

After Modi’s tweet, the group decided to cancel the temple’s inauguration, scheduled on February 15. The patrons said they will now install an idol of Bharat Mata.

According to an invitation card, the temple would be inaugurated by Union minister of state for agriculture and Member of Parliament from Rajkot, Mohan Kundariya. However, Kundariya said: “My name was published without informing me.” The group admitted that it had not taken permission from the Bharatiya Janata Party for building the temple, as it believed nobody would object.

According to a PTI report, the Kotharia gram panchayat had given 350 sq yards to the group about 10 years ago to construct a temple of Bharat Mata. But the group later decided on a temple for Modi.