Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani hails Gandhi's 'Ram Rajya', Modi's Ram Mandir

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Friday said Mahatma Gandhi dreamt of a 'Ram Rajya' (an ideal society) in the country and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is trying to turn the Father of the Nation's vision into reality.

Speaking on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary, Rupani termed the under-construction a Ram Mandir in Ayodhya as the "manifestation of Ram Rajya" as envisioned by the Father of the Nation.

"Gandhiji believed in Lord Ram. Ram Rajya was Gandhiji's idea. Even his last words were 'Hey Ram'.

"Lord Ram had all the qualities of a perfect ruler. He was pro-people and loved his citizens. That is why Lord Ram's rule was considered as ideal and that is why Gandhiji dreamed of Ram Rajya," said Rupani.

He was addressing a small gathering at Kirti Mandir, a memorial house, in Porbandar via video conferencing from Gandhinagar.

The memorial is built close to Mahatma Gandhi's ancestral house where he was born.

"But unfortunately, some people attached Lord Ram with only one religion and created unnecessary controversies, which was driving us away from Ram Rajya.

"But, I am glad that the Ram Mandir (in Ayodhya) is now emerging as a manifestation of Ram Rajya and our PM is trying to make India as envisioned by Gandhiji," the BJP leader said.

He added that Modi's vision of "Aatmanirbhar Bharat" is part of Gandhi's ideology of self-reliance.

Ahead of his speech, which was telecast live at Kirti Mandir, Rupani paid tributes to the Father of the Nation and rued not personally attending a prayer meet at the memorial organised to mark the birth anniversary.

In view of the coronavirus outbreak, the prayer meet was a low-key affair with only a limited number of persons allowed to attend the event.