After kicking off his poll campaign for the ongoing Lok Sabha election in Kanniyakumari on March 16 this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to embark on a 45-hour meditation exercise at the famed mid-sea Vivekananda Rock Memorial in the Tamil Nadu city on May 30. However, this is not the first time the Prime Minister has taken up a meditation retreat.
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Mr. Modi had undertaken a similar exercise in a Kedarnath cave, after the 2019 poll campaign. Dressed in a grey traditional pahari attire, Mr. Modi offered prayers for about 30 minutes and undertook a circumambulation of the Kedarnath shrine situated at the height of 11,755 feet near the Mandakini river. The Prime Minister then went inside a cave near the shrine. Draped in a saffron shawl, Mr. Modi was seen meditating at the holy cave.
Read more about the meditation cave here
Mr. Modi spent around 17 hours at a holy cave near the shrine, which is now designated as a ‘meditation camp’, known as the “Rudra Cave”, and is managed by the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN), a State Government enterprise.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi meditates at a cave near Kadarnath Shrine during his visits at Kedarnath Temple on May 18, 2019. | Photo Credit: ANI
The media covered the visit, highlighting Mr. Modi’s emphasis on “spiritualism, cultural heritage, and his personal faith”. Coming right after the elections, the Opposition leaders and critics had questioned the “political stunt intended to garner votes by appealing to religious sentiments”.
Modi’s Vivekananda Rock meditation
Mr. Modi will meditate from the evening of May 30 to the evening of June 1 at Dhyan Mandapam, the place where Vivekananda — a spiritual icon admired by Mr. Modi — meditated.
The PM is also likely to offer prayers at the famous Sri Bhagavathy Amman temple in Kanniyakumari. Ahead of his departure on June 1, Mr. Modi is likely to visit the Thiruvalluvar statue, a towering 133 ft sculpture erected for the Tamil bard. The complex is located adjacent to the rock memorial.
BJP leaders said the rock, where the PM will meditate, had a major impact on Vivekananda’s life and holds a similar significance in the monk’s life as Sarnath for Gautam Buddha, they said. It was here that Vivekananda arrived after wandering across the country, meditated for three days and had a vision for a developed India, they said.
Modi after 2014 Lok Sabha poll campaign
A decade ago, Mr. Modi, who is aiming for a third consecutive victory in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, chose Varanasi as a launchpad in 2014 as the Prime Ministerial candidate of the BJP. At the end of the campaign, he visited Pratapgarh in Maharashtra, where the Shivaji-led Maratha forces won a historic battle against the Mughal Empire in the 17th century.
Does the meditation violate MCC?
While legal experts argue that PM Modi’s meditation camp does “not violate” the silence period, which comes into effect 48 hours before voting for the last phase of Lok Sabha polls, Opposition parties are opposing it saying that this will be a “violation” of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC). Voting for the seventh and last phase of the Lok Sabha election will be held on June 1. Polling in the last phase will be held on 57 seats in 8 States and UTs.
“The Prime Minister had gone on a similar meditation exercise in a Kedarnath cave after the 2019 poll campaign and that was not in violation of MCC,” a legal expert told ANI.
Another legal expert said, “So long as one does not talk about the locality where the election is happening, there is no bar.” “If there are no spoken words, as reported, there seems to be no violation. Similar permission was given by the Commission to the PM during the 2019 Lok Sabha when the election was scheduled in Varanasi during the last phase,” he stated.
(With agency inputs)
