PM Modi is ''new India''s Dadhichi'': Union minister Harsh Vardhan

Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, January 28

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been called the "God's gift to India", "the messiah of the poor" and also the "eleventh avatar of Lord Vishnu". Now, he has a new description -"new India's Dadhichi".

Union Minister for Science and Technology, Earth Sciences, Forest, Environment and Climate Change Dr Harsh Vardhan, who today visited the National Gallery of Modern Art where around 1,900 mementos offered to Prime Minister Modi from across the world have been put up for auction, described him "Dadhichi of modern India".

Vardhan said  for the sake of the nation, the Prime Minister was ready to sacrifice his life too and what India could not be achieved in the past 70 years, the PM has done so in just four-and-a-half-years.

A statement issued by his office said when the minister asked people attending the auctioneering process about the Prime Minister's decision to put priceless mementos under the hammer, they were found to be short of words in their praise for him.

Then describing Modi as 'Dadhichi' of modern India, Vardhan said since the day he seated himself on the prime ministerial chair, he has started working very hard towards realising India of his dreams. "Money generated from these mementos' auction will be utilised for the ambitious 'NamamiGange' programme," he said.

Dadhichi is described as "central character in Hinduism, primarily known for sacrificing his life so 'devas' could make weapon 'vajra' from his bones".

Apparently, after being driven out from "swarg" by serpent king Vritra, "devas" needed a powerful weapon. By making use of the "vajra" made from sage Dadhichi's bones, they defeated him and reclaimed heaven.

Meanwhile, the auctioneering process is on from January 27 while e-auction will be held from January 29 to 31.

Last year, a Maharashtra BJP spokesperson described Prime Minister Modi as the "11th incarnation" of Lord Vishnu, inviting criticism with the Congress calling it an "insult" to the gods. "Hon PM @narendramodi ji is the 11th #Avatar (incarnation) of Lord Vishnu (sic)," state BJP spokesperson Avadhut Wagh said on Twitter according to reports. "The country is fortunate that we have got a God like leader in Modi," he was also quoted as saying.

Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chohan had also described him as "God's gift to the country" while earlier around 2016, the then union minister and now Vice President, M Venkaiah Naidu, while moving a political resolution at the party National Executive, also called him the "God's gift for India" and a "messiah of poor" who "inherited challenges in each and every sector" but was "steering clear of them".