New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday thanked the Election Commission for allowing him to visit the Kedarnath shrine at a time when the model code was in effect in view of the seventh phase of polling for the Lok Sabha election.

The PM spent around 17 hours at a holy cave near the shrine and even offered prayers and performed at the holy shrine.

Later while talking to the media the PM said, “God has given us capacity to give and not demand. I am fortunate to visit the temple on multiple occasions.’’

He claimed that the media’s presence will send a message that the town has been developed well.

While referring to the ongoing development works at the temple town, Mr Modi said development should be a mission in which nature, environment and tourism should not be affected. The PM claimed that he had been reviewing the work through video-conferencing. PM had reached the temple town Saturday.  

On Sunday Mr Modi paid obeisance and performed puja at Badrinath temple on the second day of his two-day visit to Uttarakhand. He reached Badrinath after spending around 20 hours earlier at the holy shrine of Kedarnath.

The PM offered prayers at innermost sanctum in Badrinath, another temple in Uttarakhand’s ‘char dham’ religious circuit, dedicated to Lord Vishnu.

This was PM’s fourth visit to the temple dedicated to Lord Shiva in the last two years. The portals of Kedarnath and Badrinath shrines reopened for devotees earlier this month after the winter break.

Earlier the Election Co-mmission gave its consent to the PM to visit the two temples while “reminding” the Prime Minister’s Office that the model code of conduct was still in force. Taking note of the redevelopment work at Kedarnath, which was devastated in a series of cloudbursts in 2013, Modi said there is a dedicated team deployed for it and that he too had taken stock of works through video-conferencing with authorities.

“The work at Kedarnath is now progressing at a proper pace. People, besides visiting Dubai and Singapore, should also visit Kedarnath and other places in India,” he said.

The prime minister then boarded an Indian Air Force helicopter to Badrinath, another temple in Uttarakhand's "char dham" religious circuit, dedicated to Lord Vishnu.