After shirking the Ayodhya issue through the election campaign up till now, Narendra Modi skillfully invoked Lord Ram without any mention of the proposed temple in Ayodhya, which is part of the Faizabad Lok Sabha constituency and the acknowledged birthplace of the divinity.
In Faizabad, while addressing a public rally on the last day of the campaign for the May 7 phase on Monday, Modi asked the crowd if breaking a promise, referring to Congress, in the birthplace of Ram was acceptable.
“This is the land of Lord Ram where people believed in ‘pran jaaye par vachan na jaaye’ (one may lose one’s life but never break a vow). Can you forgive those who broke their promises? The Gandhi family promised crores of jobs. But did any one get employment?” asked Modi. The crowd responded with a resounding ‘No!’
The huge background on the stage featured Lord Ram’s pictures, which the Congress party objected to and approached the Election Commission lodging a complaint about the violation of the model code of conduct.
The chief electoral officer of UP sought a report from the Faizabad DM, who in turn served a notice on BJP’s Faizabad candidate Lalloo Singh seeking explanation.
Vocalizating at Faizabad GIC ground, about 10 km from the disputed site in Ayodhya, Modi began by offering his salutations to Lord Ram. “Bhagwan Sriram ki iss paawan dharti ko main pranam kartaa hoon (I bow before the pious land of Lord Sri Ram),” he said and invoked Ram Rajya and Mahatma Gandhi.