‘Envelope’ Row: Temple Priest Refutes Priyanka Gandhi’s ‘Concocted Story’ Against PM Modi

The priest said there were thousands of Devnarayan temples in the country and asked whether Priyanka Gandhi or any member of the Gandhi family ever visited one.

Rajasthan Assembly Elections 2023: A priest at the Devnarayan temple in Rajasthan’s Bhilwara on Friday refuted Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s claims that Prime Minister Narendra Modi donated a meagre Rs 21 in an envelope during his visit to the temple earlier this month. In a statement, the priest, Hemraj Poswal, accused the Congress leader of peddling a “concocted story” and claimed that did not give any statement about any envelope dropped by the Prime Minister.

Poswal alleged that some local leaders “planted” the news in the local media in order to tarnish the image of ‘Sanatan Dharma’, the temple and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Recently, in rallies in Dausa and Jhunjhunu, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi presented a concocted story and mentioned an envelope, hurting the religious sentiments of the followers of ‘Sanatan Dharma’ and those of Lord Devnarayan,” he said.

The priest said there were thousands of Devnarayan temples in the country and asked whether Priyanka Gandhi or any member of the Gandhi family ever visited one. He also asked how much the Gandhi family has donated during visits to temples.

Praising former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje, he said that during her tenure, a panorama of Lord Devnarayan was made by spending Rs 4.25 crore.

Religious sentiments should not be hurt for political gain, he added.

EC serves notice to Priyanka Gandhi

Meanwhile, on Thursday, the Election Commission served a show-cause notice to the Congress general secretary over her “envelope” remarks related to the prime minister’s temple visit. The action came a day after the BJP filed a complaint against her.

The poll panel’s action came a day after the BJP filed a complaint against Priyanka Gandhi, accusing the Congress leader of “invoking the personal religious devotion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi” to make false claims during her poll campaign in Rajasthan and urged the Election Commission to take action against her.

Priyanka Gandhi, the BJP noted in its submission, told a public meeting in Dausa on October 20 that she saw it on TV that when an envelop of donation made by PM Modi at a temple was opened, it carried only Rs 21. She adds that she saw the news and is not aware if the claim is true or not, the BJP’s complaint read.

Priyanka then went on to launch a political attack on the BJP saying that “envelops” are shown to public by the party but nothing is found in them after the elections. The BJP included a video of her remarks in its complaint.

The complaint against Gandhi was submitted to the EC by a BJP delegation which included Union ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and Arjun Ram Meghwal and party leaders Anil Baluni and Om Pathak.

(With PTI inputs)