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| Edited By: DNA Web Team |Source: DNA webdesk |Updated: Nov 02, 2017, 08:01 PM IST
PM Modi is participating in the silver jubilee celebration of the Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar, which was, 25 years ago, inaugurated by Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Sansthan(BAPS)'s former head priest Pramukh Swami Maharaj. Modi had been always close to the Maharaj and had also attended his cremation ceremony held in Sarangpur in 2016. When Modi had given a speech at the time, he had said, "I feel that I have lost my father."
Interestingly, out of the around 25 lakh followers of the sect, more than 80 per cent are from the Patel community and would thus help as soothing balm with the Patel community. The priest of BAPS, Akshar Vatsal Swami said, "Narendra Modi has been very close to Pramukh Swami Maharaj and BAPS. We do not see this occasion as a political event and when he is coming here, it is not because of his political position, but because he has been very close to BAPS and Pramukh Swami Maharaj. This is purely a religious event and should not be seen from a political perspective
