Samajwadi Party activists blacken posters of Narendra Modi in Varanasi for comparing himself to Lord Shiva

Supporters of the Samajwadi Party (SP) in Varanasi on Monday protested against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for comparing its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi to Lord Shiva. The protesters were seen blackening the posters of Modi with black paint and shouting slogans for hurting their religious sentiments. "Today, we have blackened the face of Narendra Modi on the banks of Kashi to avenge the insult of Lord Shiva. Modi has done such an insulting thing. The people of Varanasi have been hearing the chant of "Har Har Mahadev" since the time they were born. This arrogant and insulting man has tried to replace"Har Har Mahadev" with"Har Har Modi". The youth of Kashi will never accept this," said a protester, Anurag.

BJP supporters are enchanting slogan 'Har Har Modi' during the election campaigns from the past one month. Many religious leaders including Dwarka Peeth Shankarachayra Swaroopanand Saraswati and politicians have slammed the BJP for this. Meanwhile, former Janata Dal (United) leader Shivanand Tiwari said that by making such slogans, BJP is walking towards its doom. "This is the beginning of the collapse of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Now the slogans of "Har Har Modi" are being chanted instead "Har Har Mahadev". Ashok Singhal, whose interview I saw a few days ago, said that Modi is not a human being, but a form of Lord Ram. His brain is filled with darkness. They want to make the whole nation like this; they want to fill India with darkness. This is really a dangerous situation," he said.

Hindu religious leader Dwarka Peeth Shankarachayra Swaroopanand Saraswati had asked the BJP supporters to restrain from comparing Modi to God Shiva. Leader of Women Congress, Shobha Ojha, agreed with him and said that the people will give a fitting reply to this. "The slogans chanted by the BJP are clearly hurting the religious sentiments of the Hindus. Shankarachayra and many other religious leaders have expressed their resentment on this, but look at their arrogance," Ojha said.

BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi, however, cleared the air by saying that Modi has himself requested that the slogan should not be chanted anymore. "In the incident of the religious slogan, BJP has clarified that this was not our slogan. Our slogan is "Ab Ki Baar Modi Sarkaar" Narendra Modi has also clarified that this slogan was raised by some enthusiastic supporters and he has requested it should not be raised in future," he said.