Ahmedabad: As the controversy “Har Har Modi” heated up with Union minister Salman Khurshid asking the Election Commission to take cognisance of it, BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Sunday advised his supporters not to use the slogan.
“Some enthusiastic supporters are using slogan ‘Har Har Modi’. I respect their enthusiasm but request not to use this slogan in the future,” Mr Modi wrote on teh microblogging site Twitter.
BJP supporters were using the slogan “Har Har Modi Ghar Ghar Modi” to campaign for Mr Modi in Varanasi since the day he addressed his Vijay Shankhanad rally in the city last year.
The slogan is a modified form of “Har Har Mahadev”, a religious chant that calls upon Lord Shiva to take away pain and suffering from one’s life. It has also been a battlecry for soldiers.
On Saturday, Opposition parties demanded an apology from the BJP for “equating” Mr Modi with Lord Shiva.
Congress leader in Varanasi Ajai Rai had said that the slogan was an insult to Lord Shiva and also the people of the city.
“Narendra Modi is trying to replace Baba Vishwanath (Lord Shiva) and this is certainly not acceptable,” he had said on Saturday.
Samajwadi Party spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary had said, “we are shocked that the BJP is ridiculing religion for political gains.”
Union minister Khurshid had said that his his party respects democracy but “God is above it.´
“I request EC to take cognisance of the slogan ‘Har Har Modi, Ghar Ghar Modi’, which is being used by the BJP,” Mr Khurshid said.
Quoting a BJP leader’s purported claim that “even God could not stop Mr Modi from becoming PM,” Mr Khurshid said that the party has forgotten the tradition of the country where no one is above God.
After Mr Modi’s request on Twitter, some of his supporters agreed to drop the slogan but others insisted that they would continue with it.
Meanwhile, Dwarka Peeth Shankarachayra Swaroopanand Saraswati has raised objection to Modi being greeted by "Har Har Modi" slogans from party supporters. He has complained to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat to stop such "vyakti puja" (eulogising of individual).
The Shankaracharya, who is considered close to Congress leaders like Digvijay Singh, is unhappy over the traditional chant "Har Har Mahadev" raised to hail Lord Shiv being "modified" into "Har Har Modi" to spruce up Modi's campaign who is contesting from Varanasi Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh. Modi is also contesting from Vadodara in his home state.
"After learning about it, I called up Bhagwat yesterday and asked him to stop such chanting, which is an insult to Lord Shiva. I told him that converting 'Har har Mahadev' into 'Har Har Modi' must be stopped. Instead of worshipping God, it is an attempt to worship a particular human being and this is against the Hindu religion," Swaroopanand told PTI over phone on Sunday.
The seer said he was flooded with phone calls from devotees, who are deeply hurt by such slogan-chanting.
"In his reply, Bhagwat claimed that RSS is always against man-worshiping. He also claimed that such chanting is done out of over-enthusiasm by some supporters, and is not an intentional effort by BJP," said Swaroopanand.
However, he remains unconvinced by the explanation given by Bhagwat. "If RSS doesn't endorse man-worshipping then why it has not done anything to stop such activities?... Why Modi is not opposing it from the very first moment," he asked.
The slogan has also angered other political parties.
"People say that no one can stop Modi. But, if such activities continue, God will stop him," said Swaroopanand.
He pointed out an instance of "deification" of Modi in Chhattisgarh. "Some youth BJP leaders in Chhattisgarh removed a 'shivling' from the temple and installed Narendra Modi's photo into it. They must refrain from indulging in Vyakti-Puja," the Shankaracharya said.
