Why is everybody from PM to CM seeking Ganapati's blessings?

Some devotees have taken umbrage at a Ganapati idol dressed in RSS-style wide half pants. Others have objected to the idol of Prime Minister Modi placed next to Ganapati, as if they are confabulating. Both are said to be a ‘first’ with devotees questioning the organisers’ devotion.

In another ‘first’, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has been hopping from one city to another, from one Mandal to another and from the house of one politician to another to seek “blessings”. As part of his outreach, Shinde also turned up at the residence of Uddhav Thackeray’s political secretary Milind Narvekar.

Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a first people say, turned up to perform Lord Ganapati’s aarti at Union minister Piyush Goyal’s residence in New Delhi. Modi’s lieutenant Amit Shah is also expected in Mumbai to perform Ganapati puja.

Many devotees are amused at the desperation of politicians this year to politicise and patronise the Lord of good times and auspicious beginnings. Political parties have always sponsored Ganapati Mandals but never quite so enthusiastically