Ahmedabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing a BJP rally in Navsari, paused for a couple of minutes when he heard azan being played from a nearby mosque. He resumed his speech after the Muslim call to prayer has ended.
In 2016, during an election rally in West Bengal’s Kharagpur, PM Modi stopped his speech for over five minutes when he heard the sound of azan. “I do not want to interrupt anyone’s prayers. So I decided to take a brief rest,” he had said after it ended.
Earlier in the day, PM Modi addressed three rallies as part of BJP’s final campaign push ahead of the first phase of Gujarat assembly polls. He repeatedly targeted the Congress and its vice-president Rahul Gandhi in his speeches.
“They hate development, they hate Gujarat, they hate Modi and now they hate sweat also. That is because they have never had to sweat it out in life and work hard. They are mocking everyone who works hard. This is their mindset. Such hatred for the poor is shocking,” PM Modi said.
Referring to Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Somnath temple, PM Modi said: “Rahul went to Somnath temple. Ask him or people from his party about how the conditions of the temple were when Congress was ruling. Thanks to Modijee Rahul has visited 21 temples in Gujarat.”
A row erupted after Rahul Gandhi’s name was allegedly added to the “non-Hindu” visitors’ book. The Congress claimed the register book is fake and accused the BJP of diverting the public attention from “real issues”.
