Congress is enraging over the fresh announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to meditate at Rock Memorial in Kanyakumari. The grand old party’s Tamil Nadu unit chief, K Selvaperunthagai, said that the Election Commission should not give permission for such an ‘indirect campaigning’.  


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Selvaperunthagai argued that the Election Commission should deny permission for the Prime Minister’s programme, as it would violate the model code of conduct. He claimed that this was an attempt at implied campaigning after the official canvassing period had ended.  


The TNCC chief took to social media platform ‘X’ to express his concerns; he wrote in Tamil, “We would like to point out here that Prime Minister Modi has no legal right to sit and meditate in the Vivekananda Memorial Hall. As the seventh phase of the final election campaign ends on the evening of May 30, sitting in Vivekananda Hall and meditating in silence should be considered as campaigning to vote in favour of the BJP, directly or indirectly, through television media.”  



The BJP leaders stated that the PM is scheduled to meditate for 48 hours from the evening of May 30 to June 1 at Dhyan Mandapam, a site believed to be associated with Swami Vivekananda’s spiritual awakening. They added that Vivekananda arrived at this location after travelling across the country, meditating for three days, and imagining a developed India.  


"Meditating at the same place shows Prime Minister Modi's commitment to bringing Swami ji's vision of a Viksit Bharat to life," reported PTI, quoting a BJP leader.  


Modi had opted for a similar meditation exercise in Kedarnath Cave after the 2019 poll campaign.  


The last phase of polling is slated for June 1, while campaigning ends two days before the elections.