Complaint in court against Narendra Modi over 'Har Har Modi' slogan

A complaint was today filed in a local court against BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and some other party leaders for allegedly hurting religious sentiments by "distorting" slogan 'Har Har Mahadev' to 'Har Har Modi' for political gains. The Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) court posted the matter for April 3.

Lawyer and former vice-president of the Central Bar Association Varanasi, Manoj Kumar Dubey, alleged in his complaint that the traditional slogan used for paying obeisance to Lord Shiva has been distorted for political gains, thereby hurting the sentiments of devotees and also amounting to disrespect to the deity. The complaint has been filed under Section 153(A), 171, 467 and 468 of Indian Penal Code, Dubey said.

Besides Modi, his close aide Amit Shah, Mayor of Varanasi Ram Gopal Mohale and other unidentified BJP members have been mentioned in the complaint. The slogan has invited criticism from various fronts and political parties.

Shankaracharya of Dwarka Peeth, Swaroopanand Saraswati, has 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 Shiva being 'modified' into 'Har Har Modi', to spruce up Modi's campaign.