NEW DELHI: Purnamasi Jani is a poet and social activist, who has composed over 50,000 devotional songs.
While campaigning in Odisha’s Kandhamal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a spontaneous display of reverence and humility, bowed down to touch the feet of the 80-year-old Padma awardee Purnamasi Jani, leading to the thunderous chants of “Modi… Modi…” by the large crowd that gathered for the public rally. Jani is a poet and social activist, who has composed over 50,000 devotional songs in Odia, Kui and Sanskrit. She was awarded the Padma Shri in 2021. She is popularly known as “Tadisoru Bai” for her deep knowledge of tribal spiritual activities.
When she reached the stage with the help of a walking stick, where the PM was sitting, Modi wrapped a shawl around her neck and then bowed down twice to touch her feet as the emotional Jani held his hand and used her hand to bless Modi while touching his forehead even as Modi told Purnamasi that she had done a lot of work.
The coastal state is going through general elections and Assembly elections simultaneously. Images and videos shared by BJP leaders of the rally showed a huge crowd inside the pandal with more people standing outside it.
The rally was being held at Phulbani, administrative headquarters of Kandhamal district, around 200 km from state capital Bhubaneswar. As a part of the Odisha campaign trail, the PM did three rallies on Saturday—in Kandhamal, Balangir and Bargarh, apart from a roadshow in Bhubaneswar on Friday.
Modi attacked both the state’s ruling Biju Janata Dal and the Congress in his speech in Kandhamal.
“BJD and Congress had declared Kandhamal as a backward district. I decided to turn such backward districts into aspirational districts of the country. I monitor the work being done in these districts regularly and am happy to know that Kandhamal is making rapid progress,” the PM said.
He claimed that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had no political will for the economic progress of Odisha despite its huge potential. “I throw a challenge to Naveen Babu to name the districts and the district headquarters without looking at a written paper. If a CM does not know about his state and the problems of the people what good he will do for you,” Modi asked.
“India has made up their mind that the NDA will cross 400 (in Lok Sabha). The people of Congress must note that the country has now decided that on 4 June they won’t get the seats that are needed to be the opposition, they will be limited below 50 seats,” he said.