Somnath temple security in a tizzy over Rahul Gandhi, PM Modi's same-day visit

Somnath temple, the picturesque pilgrimage site on the coast of Gujarat in Saurashtra is going to be at the centre of India's attention on Wednesday.

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in Gujarat, and between them will be an odd distance of about 50 km.

Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to arrive at Somnath temple for darshan at 1 pm while Narendra Modi is scheduled to address a public rally 1.20 pm in Prachi, a town some 23 km from the temple.

Sources claim, owing to Rahul's scheduled visit to the temple at around the same time, Modi will not be going for darshan at the temple, which he would have otherwise not missed.

Besides the aforementioned fact, the security agencies and local police are already in a tizzy over the VIP visits at the same time in this otherwise quaint place.

SOMNATH'S POLITICAL SIGNIFICANCE

The Shivalinga in Somnath tmeple is one of the 12 jyotirlingas in India, where Shiva is believed to have appeared as a fiery column of light.

The trustees of Somnath temple include Narendra Modi, LK Advani, Amit Shah and it is headed by Keshubhai Patel as its chairman.

Another historical significance is that Advani's Ram Rath Yatra started from here in 1990.

A young Narendra Modi came to political limelight in this Rath Yatra as Advani's trusted aide who managed his affairs at the time.

Moreover, in 1947 after independence, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel desired to reconstruct this temple as the deputy prime minister and went with the proposal to Mahatma Gandhi. While Gandhi agreed on the idea of reconstruction.

Mahatma Gandhi said that the funds for this should be raised from the public and not given by the government. This is also an issue raised by the BJP.

THE VISITS

Rahul Gandhi has visited 20 temples in his four-phase Navsarjan Yatra to Gujarat over 12 days in the last two months.

Rahul's temple visits have drawn flak from the BJP, with allegations ranging from Rahul compromising national interest by 'celebrating the release of Hafiz Saaed' to claiming he never visited temples before and is doing so now, only to get votes.

In this visit, Gandhi will travel from Somnath to Amreli through Visavadar in Junagadh, which is former Gujarat chief minister Keshubhai Patel's constituency.

PM Modi meanwhile is scheduled to address four rallies across Gujarat on Wednesday. Starting from Morbi, Prachi in Gir-Somnath district, Palitana in Bhavnagar and Navsari in South Gujarat.

Morbi is significant as it is a hub of the ceramic tiles manufacturing industry.

The industry has been badly affected by global recession, followed by demonetisation and now GST. Prachi is a destination to meet with fishermen of Veraval, which is a big fishery export hub.

PM Modi's other significant stop is Palitana town in Bhavnagar district, which is a very important pilgrimage place for the the Jain community.

The community, believed to be the BJP supporters, have had a long standing demand that Palitana be declared as a religious city on the lines of Ambaji, but it has not been done by the BJP so far.

It's a busy day for Gujarat as allegations and counter-allegations are expected to fly thick and fast in Saurashtra on Wednesday.