New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday arrived in Kanniyakumari in Tamil Nadu, where he will begin a 45-hour-long meditation session at the famous Vivekananda Rock Memorial in the country's southernmost tip.
PM Modi visited the Bhagavathy Amman Temple to offer prayers. PM Modi will engage in a continuous meditation session from the evening of May 30th to the evening of June 1st at the Dhyan Mandapam, the same sacred spot where Swami Vivekananda is believed to have been meditated.
The meditation comes even as the campaigning ends for the seventh phase of Lok Sabha elections, scheduled on Saturday. The result of the Lok Sabha elections will be declared on June 4.
This location, where the Indian Ocean, Bay of Bengal, and Arabian Sea converge, is seen by BJP leaders as a powerful symbol of national unity.
Over 2,000 police personnel have been deployed around the Vivekananda Rock Memorial to ensure the Prime Minister's security, with the Coast Guard and Navy also maintaining vigil.
Campaigning for the final phase of the Lok Sabha polls concluded at 5 pm today. During the silent period before the last phase of the 2019 elections, PM Modi had similarly undertaken a spiritual retreat to Kedarnath, where he meditated in a cave.
The Prime Minister's meditation plan has ignited a political controversy. The Congress claimed that PM Modi was attempting to "circumvent" the silent period restrictions and approached the Election Commission to prevent media from airing visuals of him meditating, arguing that it would violate the model code of conduct.
A Congress delegation, including Randeep Surjewala, Abhishek Singhvi, and Syed Naseer Hussain, submitted a memorandum to the Election Commission. Additionally, the DMK petitioned the district collector against granting permission for the PM's spiritual retreat, according to a report by news agency PTI.