Union Home Minister Amit Shah made three stops in Bengaluru, two associated with religious institutions, before leaving for Hubballi,
He visited Poornaprajna Vidyapeetha and paid his respects at the Brindavan of the recently-deceased Vishwesha Teertha Swami of Pejawar Mutt. The seer was closely associated with the BJP and the Ram Janmabhoomi movement.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Shah participated in another religious event organised by Vedanta Bharati at Palace Grounds and released translations of Viveka Deepini, a compilation of slokas from Prashnottara Ratna Malika of Adi Shankara. At the event, he described Shankaracharya as someone who fought for Hindu Dharma against conversions during the time and successfully united Hindus.
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Mr. Shah also said that “secularism” had led to not respecting the nation’s traditions and icons. “In Narendra Modi, we have a leader who did “Ganga aarti” at Varanasi before taking oath as Prime Minister and we should be proud of it,” he said.
Mr. Shah also opened the office of Bengaluru South BJP MP Tejasvi Surya in Jayanagar. This raised eyebrows in the party, as Mr. Surya was the youngest member of Parliament and this was the first time the national president of the party had opened the office of an MP, senior workers in the party said.