Anurag Thakur holds havan in Una for PM Modi's tenure milestone
Synopsis
Key Takeaways
BJP MP Anurag Thakur performed a puja and havan at the ancient Mahadev temple in Kotla Kalan, Una, within his Hamirpur parliamentary constituency on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, to mark Prime Minister Narendra Modi's milestone as India's longest-serving elected Prime Minister. The ceremony was held alongside BJP national co-organisation secretary Shiv Prakash and other dignitaries, with prayers offered for the Prime Minister's health, happiness, and long life.
Context
Thakur shared the occasion on X with the caption 'राष्ट्रयज्ञ से राष्ट्रनिर्माण' ('From national yajna to nation-building'), framing the religious observance as an act of civic and patriotic devotion. He tagged Prime Minister Modi directly and used the hashtag #LongestServingElectedPMModi, signalling that the event was part of a coordinated party acknowledgement of the milestone. The venue — an ancient Mahadev temple in the Una sub-division — lent the occasion a locally rooted, devotional character.
Thakur, a five-term Lok Sabha MP from Hamirpur and former Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting as well as Youth Affairs and Sports, has long been one of the BJP's most prominent faces in Himachal Pradesh. His choice to hold the ceremony in his own constituency underscores the party's practice of localising national leadership narratives at the grassroots level.
Policy Backdrop
Prime Minister Modi was sworn in for a third consecutive term in June 2024 following the National Democratic Alliance's victory in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Continuously in office since May 2014, Modi has now served longer as an elected Prime Minister than any predecessor, surpassing the tenures of earlier leaders who held the office across multiple non-consecutive or coalition-dependent terms.
BJP parliamentarians across the country have frequently organised temple-based pujas and havans to mark significant milestones in the Prime Minister's political career. These events reflect the party's consistent integration of Hindu ritual observance with public political messaging, reinforcing cultural symbolism that is central to its organisational identity.
Stakeholders and Impact
The ceremony brought together BJP workers, local party office-bearers, and Hindu devotees from the Una region. The presence of Shiv Prakash, a senior figure in the BJP's organisational hierarchy as national co-organisation secretary, elevated the event beyond a routine constituency activity, indicating central party endorsement of such commemorations.
For residents of the Hamirpur constituency, the event served as both a religious gathering and a visible demonstration of the local MP's alignment with the national party line. Such ceremonies also function as mobilisation touchpoints for the party's grassroots network ahead of any forthcoming electoral or organisational activity in Himachal Pradesh.
What's Next
Similar commemorative events are likely to continue across BJP-held constituencies as the party formally acknowledges the tenure milestone through its organisational machinery. State-level BJP meetings in Himachal Pradesh may further consolidate this messaging, and the milestone could feature in parliamentary discourse during the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament. The broader significance of Modi's tenure record is expected to remain a recurring theme in the party's political communication through the remainder of 2026.