By Sarwar Kashani
New Delhi, May 30 (EFE).- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarked on a two-day meditation retreat Thursday after months of election campaigning marked by his show of religiosity, even proclaiming himself a non-biological creature sent by god.
The prime minister’s prayer in solitude inside a shrine on a tiny islet at India’s southernmost tip marks the culmination of his cross-country public rallies ahead of the world’s largest elections, spanning 42 days, with the final round being held on Saturday.
As the final phase of campaigning ended Thursday evening, Modi, who addressed more than 200 meetings in the last two and a half months, flew to the Vivekananda Rock Memorial, a pilgrimage site in Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu.
The shrine is named after the Hindu monk and philosopher, Swami Vivekananda, widely hailed as the first Hindu missionary to the West.
Modi has long admired the Hindu mystic, who gained global recognition after his spellbinding speech at the World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893, promoting tolerance and respect for all faiths.
Modi will spend hours inside the memorial, where his idol is believed to have attained enlightenment.
Critics say ending his campaign in Tamil Nadu is part of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) push for a larger footprint in south India, which has been electorally elusive for Modi, who is eyeing a record-equaling third consecutive term.
The opposition has also objected to the retreat, claiming it violates the model code of conduct, which imposes a 48-hour silent period ahead of voting day.
Modi also ended his 2014 and 2019 election campaigns with meditation retreats. However, the 2024 campaign has been unprecedented in many ways.
His speeches have been characterized by Islamophobic rhetoric and inflammatory language against the 200 million Muslims in India, in a country where 80 percent of its 1.4 billion people are Hindus.
In a controversial speech after the first round of polls in mid-April, Modi told a rally that if the opposition wins, they plan to distribute the country’s wealth among “infiltrators” and “those who have more children,” using political slurs to describe Indian Muslims.
To appeal to his core Hindu nationalist voter base, Modi has set new benchmarks of loud displays of self-righteousness and piety, furthering a cult of personality within the ruling BJP and its millions of Hindu supporters.
In an interview with a regional Hindi news channel, Modi was asked why he showed no signs of fatigue after months of holding at least two rallies a day in multiple states.
He responded that he was once convinced he was born biologically but began believing he is not a biological creature after his mother died.
“Now, I am convinced I am not born biologically. I am getting this energy as God sent me to do His work,” Modi told the TV channel in a clip that has now gone viral ahead of the final phase of elections.
He repeated these remarks in more interviews over the last few days, claiming he has been sent by God to fulfill a mission. “God doesn’t reveal his cards. He just keeps making me do things. When that purpose is finished, my work will be done.”
Modi’s decade in power has increasingly pushed the nation away from its secular foundations, as the ruling party and the government have blatantly promoted Hinduism, the majority faith, and increasingly antagonized and marginalized minority religious communities, in particular Muslims. EFE
ssk/ks
