PM Modi Appointed Chairman Of The Iconic Somnath Temple Trust; Second PM To Hold The Position After Morarji Desai

Gujarat's Somnath Temple trust has appointed Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi as its chairman, making him the second only PM after Morarji Desai to hold the position, reports Times Now.

Located in Prabhas Patan town of Gujarat's Gir-Somnath district, the temple trust's chairman post had fallen vacant in October last year after the demise of former Gujarat chief minister (CM) Keshubhai Patel. He had served as the trust's chairman for 16 years from 2004 to 2020.

PM Modi, who is one of the trustees of the temple, was unanimously elected during a virtual meeting of the trustees which also include Union Minister for Home Affairs Amit Shah, veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Lal Krishna Advani, Gujarati scholar JD Parmar and businessman Harshvardhan Neotia.

Sharing the development, Trustee-Secretary of the trust PK Laheri shared, "While Shah proposed the name of PM Modi as chairman, I seconded it and the other trustees then unanimously elected the PM as the new chairman." He also added that the trustees would hold another meeting to discuss future plans.

Prior to Prime Minister Modi, Desai was the only PM who had served as the iconic temple trust chairman. He had held the post for a long period from 1967 to 1995.