Rahul able alternative to Modi, says Shankaracharya

Lucknow: Dwarka Peeth Shankaracharya Swami Swarupanand Saraswati has approved Congress president Rahul Gandhi as an alternative to the Modi government in the 2019 elections.

“Rahul is opposing the policies of the BJP and not Mr Modi at a personal level. If other leaders agree, the grand alliance can provide an alternative to the Modi government. I see nothing wrong in the manner in which Rahul Gandhi embraced the prime minister and I do not understand the hue and cry being made about it”, he told reporters at Vrindavan in Mathura.

He said that the BJP is apparently not serious about the promises it had made to the people, who are now feeling cheated.

The Shankaracharya also slammed the BJP and said that the party was not interested in getting the Ram temple constructed.

“The BJP wants to use this issue once again to regain power in 2019. The BJP is misleading people in the name of the temple”, he said, adding that it was wrong for the BJP to say that it would build the Ram temple.

“The temple could be made either with the orders of the Supreme Court or by the saints and seers,” the Shankaracharya  said.

The Shankaracharya further added that if the Modi government wanted to, it could stop cow slaughter in one stroke instead of allowing violence over the issue.

Similarly, he said that the Centre should abolish Article 370, but the BJP wants these issues to continue to fester to gain political mileage for the upcoming 2019 general elections. He reiterated his support to Mr Rahul Gandhi.