'Congress Ecosystem Agitated Because I Attended Ganpati Puja, They Put Ganesh Idol Behind Bars In Karnataka': PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleged that like Britishers, the Congress party also hates Ganesh Utsav, while speaking at a public event in Odisha's Bhubaneshwar on Tuesday (17 September).

"The British, who worked on the policy of 'Divide and Rule', were irked by the Ganesh Utsav. Today also, the people who are trying to divide and break the Indian society are irked by Ganesh Utsav," the PM said.

The remarks came after he was criticised for attending Ganesh Puja at the residence of Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud. Many criticised him for diluting the boundary between the executive and the judiciary.

Attacking the Congress government in Karnataka, Modi said, "They committed an even bigger sin. They put Lord Ganesh's idol behind bars. The whole country is disturbed because of those pictures."

Notably, in Mandya of Karnataka, the police were seen 'arresting' the Ganesh idol and the pictures of the Ganesh idol inside a police van went viral on social media sparking outrage.

Modi urged to stop hateful ideas and toxic mentality from spreading while launching the Subhadra scheme for women in Odisha, where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has formed the government for the first time.