Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday morning posted on social media pictures of a new member at his official residence of 7, Lok Kalyan Marg in New Delhi – a newborn calf.
The post came before he hit the poll campaign trail in support of his party candidates on Saturday by addressing a mega rally in Jammu and Kashmir's Doda district amid tight security arrangements.
“A new member at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg!” PM Modi wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) handle, as he posted pictures of him with a brown calf which he named ‘Deepjyoti’ (light of the lamp).
“It is said in our scriptures - ‘Gaav: Sarvasukha Prada:’ There has been the auspicious arrival of a new member in the prime minister’s residence’s family at Lok Kalyan Marg. In the prime minister’s residence, the beloved mother cow has given birth to a new calf, which has a symbol of light on its forehead. Hence, I have named it ‘Deepjyoti’.”
Modi also shared a video where he is playing and caressing Deepjyoti.
“Prime Minister Modi will hold his first election meeting in Doda tomorrow,” G Kishan Reddy, Union coal and mines minister and BJP election in-charge for Jammu & Kashmir, told PTI on Friday in Samba.
“This will be a significant event as it marks the first visit of any Prime Minister to Doda in 42 years. The last prime ministerial visit to Doda was in 1982," Reddy added.
The party is contesting all 43 Assembly seats in the Jammu division. In the last J&K Assembly, BJP had 25 MLAs.
This is not the first time that Indian politicians have shared their moments with their pets and animals on ‘X’. The leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi is known for sharing his love for dogs on X.
Modi’s public display of affection for the calf also came 10 days after an inconsolable Siya Nand Mishra, father of the 19-year-old Aryan who was shot dead was shot dead inside a moving car in Haryana on August 23 by cow vigilantes who mistook him for a cattle smuggler, said: “The government has given them [cow vigilantes] the licence to kill people on the pretext of being involved in cow smuggling. The Modi government has given this right to them — but why?”