Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday headed to Kanniyakumari in Tamil Nadu for undertaking a two-day meditation at the iconic Vivekananda Rock Memorial after ending hectic campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls.

According to sources, he will sit for the 48-hour meditation at Dhyan Mandapam, the spot where Swami Vivekananda meditated in 1892. The Rock Memorial monument was built to pay tribute to the Hindu philosopher-saint. It is said that Vivekananda after wandering across the country meditated here for three days and attained a vision for a developed India.

Upon his arrival, the prime minister headed straight to the Bhagavathi Amman temple and offered prayers.

Security has been beefed up and 2,000 police personnel will stand guard during his stay, even as the Indian Coast Guard and Indian Navy will also maintain a tight vigil.

The act of the prime minister has come under opposition fire with many parties terming the development a violation of the model code of conduct (MCC).

“We have no problem if any leader keeps a fast of silence or campaigns but during the silence period, there should be no campaigning,” said Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi after a meeting of a Congress delegation with Election Commission (EC) officials on Wednesday.

He said the silence period before the polling will begin on May 30 and continue until June 1. He added that Modi’s meditation is a direct violation of the MCC. “…you are either campaigning this way or publicising yourself through new channels and print media,” Singhvi said.

“We will complain. He can meditate, but it cannot be aired on television,” West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, adding that televising it would amount to the violation of MCC.

The Dravida Munnetra Kazgham (DMK) slammed the practice saying “it is a drama enacted for political gains.” DMK’s Kanyakumari south district advocates’ wing organiser M Joseph Raj has even submitted a petition to the returning officer of the city urging him to deny permission for the event.

SP’s Dimple Yadav said to meditate one does not need to travel to Kanyakumari to meditate as it can be done at home too.

The Lok Sabha election is being held in seven phases beginning on April 19, and the results will be out on June 4. PM Modi and the BJP hope to return to power with a performance exceeding their count in 2019.

Modi had undertaken a similar spiritual journey after the culmination of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. His visit to Uttarakhand after the high-octane campaign and meditation inside a cave near the Kedarnath shrine drew global headlines. In 2019, he visited Kedarnath, and in 2014 he visited Shivaji’s Pratapgarh.