Rahul follows grandmother, father in temple visit

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday became the third-generation representative of the Gandhi family to perform Puja at the famous Peetambara temple in Datia in north Madhya Pradesh.

His grandmother the late Indira Gandhi and father the late Rajiv Gandhi had visited the temple, whose presiding deity is invoked for destruction of the enemy.

It is said that Rahul's great grandfather Pt Jawaharlal Nehru also had a Puja performed during the Chinese invasion of India in 1962 for the country’s security, though he did not participate in it.

Indira Gandhi visited the temple thrice between 1979 and 1980.

Rajiv Gandhi had visited the temple in 1985 after becoming the prime minister.

Famous temples are considered great influencers in Madhya Pradesh politics.

That's the reason the Congress president made it a point to embark on campaign only after performing religious rituals in his earlier Madhya Pradesh tours to Bhopal, Rewa, Satna, Jabalpur and Gwalior.

Later, Rahul participated in a road show in Gwalior accompanied by Kamal Nath, the Congress' Madhya Pradesh unit president, and Jyotiraditya Scindia.

Rahul’s speeches might have been rather repetitive, mostly targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in the state but his five road shows so far have attracted huge crowds.

Enthused by the public's response, the state Congress leadership has urged the high command to chalk out more such road shows.