A video in which a temple priest claims that Prime Minister Narendra Modi donated merely Rs 21 in a white envelope in the temple’s donation box, has been going viral on social media in the past few days. Soon after, several I.N.D.I. Alliance leaders and their supporters started mocking PM Modi for donating a small amount in the “daan peti”.
The viral video is from January this year when Prime Minister Modi visited the Devnarayan Temple in Rajasthan’s Bhilwara to pay his respects at the temple while the celebration of Lord Devnarayan’s 1111th birth anniversary was ongoing. According to the temple’s priest Hemraj Poswal, as seen in the viral video, “When the donation box was opened, Rs 21 came out of the envelope.” The priest claimed that three envelopes were found in the donation box nine months after it was opened. He added that Modi had dropped a white envelope in the box and in the same envelope, just Rs 21 have been found. The others contained Rs 101 and Rs 2100 as claimed by the temple priest.
The said video was then used by the political opponents of PM Modi to target him saying that PM Modi “deceived” the Gurjar community as the temple holds special significance for the Gurjars.
Congress leader Dheeraj Gurjar claimed that PM Modi “deceived” the Gurjar community as he offered merely Rs 21 in the donation box saying that ” It is not a good thing for the Prime Minister of the country to deceive any society by showing them a dream.”
Samajwadi Party leader I.P. Singh claimed that while PM Modi gave Rs 21 lakh crore to businessman Gautam Adani, he offered just Rs 21 to the Hindu deities. “Modi ji put Rs 21 lakh crore in Adani’s donation box but offered Rs 21 to the deities. Even the poorest Hindu does not put so much money in the charity box anymore,” the Samajwadi Party leader posted on X.
Another Congress leader Surendra Rajput claimed that while PM Modi gives Rs 21 to the temple, he gifts diamond worth lakhs of rupees to the wife of the American President. “Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi gives Rs 21 to the temple and gives a diamond worth lakhs of rupees to the wife of the President of America! After that he also gives sermon on Sanatan Dharma,” Rajput posted on X.
It is amusing to see the audacity of the Congress leader to even mention Sanatan Dharma when his party is in alliance with DMK, a party that openly calls for the eradication of Sanatan Dharma.
Amidst the online attack on PM Modi over Rs 21, another video has surfaced on social media wherein it is clearly seen that PM Modi did not put any envelope in the donation box as claimed by priest Hemraj Poswal, in fact, PM Modi had directly dropped some currency notes into it.
As seen in the video, Prime Minister Modi proceeded through the temple, performing rituals, praying, and eventually making a donation (without an envelope) as an expression of respect and reverence. While all this was happening, priest Hemraj Poswal was standing behind PM Modi at some distance.
The visuals make it clear that PM Modi didn’t use a white envelope to make the donation, as alleged by the priest. This raises questions about the veracity of the claims made by the priest. Moreover, the question arises if there is more to the picture than what meets the eyes ahead of the coming state assembly elections.