Veteran Bharatiya Janata Party leader lK Advani refused to comment on the emotive Ram Mandir issue despite being pressed by the mediapersons, saying that he had come to Haridwar to perform some religious rituals in the memory of his late wife Kamla Advani.
Accompanied by his daughter Pratibha, Advani reached Haridwar from Rishikesh on Friday. He had arrived in Rishikesh on Thursday and visited Prakritik Dhyan Vatika at Parmarth Niketan where he planted a Rudraksha sapling in the memory of his late wife.
Soon after reaching Haridwar, the former Deputy Prime Minister performed some religious rituals at Harihar Ashram assisted by Juna Akhara head Swami Awdheshanand Giri. During his visit to the Ashram, he also fed bananas to the monkeys. He rested for a while in the ashram before he left for Jolly Grant Airport at 3.30 pm on way back to Delhi.
While visiting Parmarth Niketan in Rishikesh on Thursday, the leader had turned emotional and recounted his earlier visit to the ashram with his wife “My wife was always keen to visit the holy city,” he said. He lauded the efforts of the head of Parmarth Niketan, Swami Chidanand Saraswati for initiating the movement of clean, serene and green environment through nation-wide awareness campaigns. He also had a discussion with the State Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on ways to keep Ganga clean.