New Delhi, Feb 10 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's devotion and strict adherence to ascetic rituals, as suggested under 'Yam Niyam' and said that he started 'Bhakti ka Andalon' ahead of the Pran Pratistha ceremony in the grand Ram Temple complex.

Speaking on the discussion over Ram Temple construction & Ram Lalla's consecration in Lok Sabha, the Home Minister said, 'PM Modi started Bhakti ka Aandolan instead of politicisation of consecration ceremony' and the Opposition should have taken lessons from it.

Shah said that PM Modi led the nation in paying obeisance to Lord Ram and strictly followed 'Yam Niyam' for full 11 days and this included, 'sleeping on the floor, consuming only coconut water and heard Ram Bhajans in various languages.'

Blasting the Opposition & naysayers for constantly finding fault & 'playing with the beliefs of 140 crore people', he advised them not to behave like 'havan mein haddi', as goes the proverb in Gujarati.

He said that when Supreme Court, in its historic August 5 order gave go-ahead for construction of Ram Temple, the rival parties resorted to fear-mongering and claiming that riots will pan out across the country.

'They forgot that this is Modi government. The entire journey from ground-breaking ceremony to Pran Pratistha, everything happened in peaceful environment and today the entire nation is celebrating the joyous occasion,' he said amid cheers & bench-thumping by the treasury benches.

Further revealing the rationale behind not naming the Ayodhya Airport after Lord Ram, the Home Minister revealed that it was done at the insistence of PM Modi.

'It was a popular proposal to name it after Lord Ram & the family members including Raja Dashrath but Prime Minister was clear on identifying & crediting the role of everyone including Lord Hanuman, Maharishi Valmiki, squirrel & more,' he told the House.

/IANS