Modi requests supporters not to use 'Har Har Modi' slogan

Ahmedabad: As Hindu seers and opposition parties objected to 'Har Har Modi' slogan, Narendra Modi on Sunday asked his supporters not to use it.

"Some enthusiastic supporters have been using the slogan 'Har Har Modi'. I respect their enthusiasm, but request them not to use this slogan in the future," Modi tweeted on the microblogging site Twitter.

Shankaracharya of Dwarka Peeth, Swaroopanand Saraswati was the latest to be offended by the slogan and registered a strong protest with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, asking him to stop such 'vyakti puja' (eulogising of an individual).

The Shankaracharya was unhappy over the traditional chant 'Har Har Mahadev' which is raised to hail Lord Shiv being 'modified' into 'Har Har Modi', to spruce up Modi's campaign.

Political parties like Samajwadi Party and Congress had also protested against the BJP's slogan 'Har Har Modi, Ghar Ghar Modi', saying that it disrespected Lord Shiva.

Union Minister Salman Khurshid also strongly opposed the slogan and requested the Election Commission to take cognisance of it.

"After learning about it, I called up Bhagwat yesterday and asked him to stop such slogans, which is an insult to Lord Shiva," Swaroopanand told PTI on Sunday.

"I told him that converting 'Har har Mahadev' into 'Har Har Modi' must be stopped. Instead of worshipping god, it is an attempt to worship a particular human being, which is against the Hindu religion," Swaroopanand said.

The seer said that he was flooded with phonecalls from devotees, who were "deeply hurt" by such sloganeering.

"In his reply, Bhagwat claimed that the RSS has always been against personality worship. He also claimed that such chanting is done due to over enthusiasm by some supporters, and it is not BJP's intentional effort," Swaroopanand said.

However, when Swami Swaroopanand was contacted after Modi's latest tweet requesting his supporters not to use the slogan, his disciple Brahmvidyanand told PTI over the phone that, "Maharaj ji will welcome Modi's move," also clarifying that the seer would not want to make any comment.