DW BUREAU / Patiala,

Saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made sure to respect and help every religion prosper, former Minister of State for External Affairs and Member Parliament from Patiala in Punjab, Preneet Kaur, on Thursday visited Ayodhya's Ram Mandir, which opened its doors to the public on January 23.

She also paid obeisance at Gurdwara Sri Nazarbagh Sahib, where the first Sikh Guru Sri Guru Nanak Dev and tenth Guru Sri Guru Gobind Singh stayed during their Ayodhya visits.

Talking to the media in Ayodhya, the Patiala MP, who is again in the fray as a BJP candidate, said: "I am very excited and happy to visit and pay my obeisance at the holy Sri Ram Mandir, the birthplace of Lord Shri Ram. This is a very pious place and has a lot of beliefs connected to it and I feel blessed to have this opportunity. I will pray to Ram Lalla ji to keep showering his blessings on the people of Patiala, Punjab and the entire nation."

"I will also be visiting Gurdwara Sri Nazarbagh Sahib, the historic place where our first Guru Sri Guru Nanak Dev stayed for two days during his third Udaasi. Our tenth Guru Sri Guru Gobind Singh also stayed at this place during his young age while traveling from Patna to Sri Anandpur Sahib. The then Raja of Ayodhya, Raja Mann Singh, also presented a beautiful garden to Guru Sahib as a sign of respect, thus the name Gurdwara Nazarbagh Sahib."

Answering a media query on PM Modi's role, Kaur said: "It's only because of the strong will and leadership of PM Narendra Modi that the opening of Shri Ram Mandir has been made possible."

"I count myself as very lucky that I have encountered two historic moments in my lifetime, one being the inauguration of Sri Ram Mandir and second being the opening of Shri Kartarpur Sahib corridor which was the long-standing demand of our Sikh Sangat. Modi-ji has made sure to respect and help every religion prosper in our country."
(editor@dailyworld.in)