TUMAKURU: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday claimed that the Narendra Modi-led government provided free food to 80 crore people during the Covid-19 pandemic, built houses for 3 crore people in seven years and implemented the New Education Policy (NEP), and thus upheld the ideals of Sri Shivakumara Swamiji of Siddaganga Mutt.
“The Swamiji, who is regarded as a ‘Living God’ and modern Basavanna, has uplifted the lives of people by providing free food, shelter and education. The Modi government has implemented the NEP which gives children the right to study technical and medical education in their mother tongue,” he remarked, speaking at the 115th birth anniversary of the Swamiji at the mutt, after paying tribute to the ‘gadduge’, the divine tomb.
“Some great people give a message to society through their preachings, others by their knowledge, but the Swamiji gave with his work. Some holy places took shape based on mythology, but the Siddaganga Mutt was shaped out of the Swamiji’s work. He served for 88 years as the head, until his last breath,” Shah observed.
He recalled the saying of former PM Atal Behari Vajpayee that “there is Ganga in the North and Siddaganga in the South”. There is a belief that taking a dip in the Ganga gets rid of sins of previous lives, and visiting Siddaganga evokes the sacrosanct work done in previous lives, he said.
Sri Siddalinga Swamiji appreciated the Modi government for its commitment to bring Indian students from war-torn Ukraine home safely, through Operation Ganga. “Modi and Shah have been working as Rama and Lakshmana,” he remarked. Sutturu Mutt head Sri Shivarathrideshikendra Swamiji was all praise for Shah’s political acumen, especially winning elections.
Muslim couple names kid Shivamani
On the occasion of the 115th birth anniversary of Sri Shivakumara Swamiji, a Muslim couple repor-tedly named their child ‘Shiva-mani’, at an event organised by Bengaluru-based Shivakumara Swamiji Annadana Sewa Trust in Tumakuru on Friday. Shaista and Zameer were among 115 couples who named their newborns with the prefix ‘Shiva’. But fearing media glare, the couple fled the venue, a source said.