NEW DELHI: Shankaracharya of Jyotish Peeth Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, who stirred a major controversy by questioning the consecration ceremony in Ayodhya, on Sunday hailed PM Modi as a brave prime minister.

“The truth is, with Narendra Modi becoming PM , Hindus’ self-respect has awoken. This is not a small thing. We have said it several times publicly, we are not anti-Modi but Modi’s admirers.We admire him because which other PM in independent India has been so brave, someone who stands firm for the Hindus,” Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati said.”We are not criticising anyone but he is the first PM who supports Hindu sentiments. You, the media, have just one agenda – prove us anti-Modi. Tell me, when the PM, through his home minister, abrogated Article 370, didn’t we welcome it?” he said.