‘Cong ecosystem angry’: PM Modi on row over attending Ganesh Puja at CJI’s house

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday hit out at the Congress in an apparent reference to the opposition’s backlash against his participation in Ganesh Puja rituals at Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud’s home. He said that people who are trying to “divide and rule” now have problems with Ganesh Puja.
“Ganesh Utsav is not just a festival of faith for our country. It played a very important role in the freedom movement…Even at that time, the British, who followed the policy of divide and rule, used to hate Ganesh Utsav. Even today, the power-hungry people who are busy in dividing and breaking society are having problems with Ganesh Puja,” Modi said while addressing a rally in Odisha’s Bhubaneswar.
According to Modi, Congress and its “ecosystem” are angry because he participated in Ganesh Puja.
He also highlighted a recent incident in Karnataka, where a Ganesh idol was momentarily seized by police in Bengaluru amid a protest against stone-pelting during a Ganesh immersion procession.
“Lord Ganesh was put behind bars in Karnataka by these people,” Modi said.
Last week, a political controversy erupted after a video of Modi visiting CJI’s home for Ganesh Puja went viral on social media. In the video, CJI Chandrachud and his wife Kalpana Das were seen welcoming Modi at their house.
Several opposition leaders, particularly from the Shiv Sena (UBT), and some lawyers of the Supreme Court reacted sharply to the event and raised concerns about the meeting’s implications on the judiciary’s independence.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut expressed fears that the meeting might affect the ongoing Maharashtra case being heard by CJI Chandrachud.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who is also the president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, said that while there was no fault with CJI inviting Modi for the festival, the PM’s decision to “publicise the meeting” was wrong and led to unnecessary speculations.