Chanting Bande Utkal Janani and Jai Jagannath at the lion’s Gate in front of the Shree Jagannath temple here on Tuesday, Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP National Election Campaign Committee chairman Narendra Modi cited many similarities between Odisha and Gujarat.
He profusely complimented the vast army of Odias working in Gujarat for their contributions to his State’s economic development. There is no village or tehsil in Gujarat where people from Odisha are not there. They have shed sweat and blood for Gujarat’s development, he said.
Modi, who spoke to the waiting reporters after his darshan of Goddesses lakshmi and Bimala and Shree Madanmohan in the Shreemandir, first addressed the people of Odisha in a few Odia sentences, saying lord Jagannath would continue to bless India and people of India. Modi’s Odia speech inspired party men who repeated his words. “I, coming from the land of Somnath (Gujarat), salute the land of Jagannath. I feel blessed for Darshan of Mahaprabhu Jagannath,” he said. Earlier, Modi, on his arrival at Puri straight from the Bhubaneswar airport during a one-day visit, had gone to the Gundicha Temple, where Shree Jagannath and his siblings Shree Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra are on their nine-day sojourn since the Rath Yatra on July 10.
Modi said, “While you are located in a sea coast, Gujarat too is a coastal State. The Sun Temple at Konark in the east of the country in Odisha gets the first sunray in the morning as the aarati of the deity while the Modhera Temple in the west in Gujarat witnesses the aarati with the day’s last ray at the sunset.”
A rousing welcome was accorded to Modi at Puri by his party cadres and the public. On his arrival, he was escorted to the sanctum sanctorum of the Shree Gundicha Temple by his traditional family priests here amid tight security.
After his prayers in the two shrines, Modi called on Puri Gajapati King Dibyasingh Deb, the foremost servitor of lord Jagannath, at his palace along the Grand Road. Neither Modi nor the king elaborated on the discussion.
Modi then met Jagadguru Shankaracharya Swami Nischalananda Saraswati at his Gobardhan Pith. The Shankaracharya advised Modi to be cautious against the negative forces intent on obstructing the nation’s progress. The seer also advised him to have a clear foresight in guiding the nation in the right path.
later, Modi interacted for about an hour with the State BJP leaders at the Mayfair Hotel over the prospects of the party in the ensuing polls.
Tight security arrangements were made for the visit of the high profile Z Plus category leader Modi. A three-layer security blanket was thrown along the
Bhubaneswar-Puri highway and in and around of temples he visited.
BJP Central leader and State in-charge Chandan Mitra, State president Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo and other senior party leaders including Prasanna Mishra, Biswabhusan Harichandan, Dharmendra Pradhan, Krushna Chandra Jagdeb and Surama Padhi accompanied Modi.