The temple dedicated to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Rajkot was constructed illegally by a tea stall owner to ward off action for encroaching on government land. A day after it was built, the PM expressed strong disapproval in a series of tweets. Within hours, the Rajkot administration razed the structure to the ground.The temple was constructed illegally by Shankar Patel and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member Ramesh Unghad had introduced himself as the builder of the temple and Patel as the ‘priest’, on Wednesday.A Mirror investigation has revealed that Patel had built the temple to fend off city corporation authorities who pressed him for bribes as he had encroached upon government land. Soon after he built the temple to the PM, not only did the harassment stop but his business flourished. In fact, his chai kitli became so popular that the local BJP office chose it for a chai pe charcha programme. It was from this place that Modi had addressed the nation after he was made BJP’s PM candidate before the Lok Sabha polls in May. It was also the day people donated alarge amount of money to the Modi temple.Patel, believed to be originally from Madhya Pradesh, set up Aum Paan Centre near this intersection in Kothariya about 11 years ago. As his business grew, he set up a small tea stall adjoining his paan centre. As the land was encroached upon, he was hounded by the local authorities.“Yes, it was illegal, but my intentions were good,” he told Mirror. However, because it was an illegal encroachment, there was a constant fear of the structure being demolished. “When I started my business, the land belonged to Kothariya gram panchayat. Later, it became part of Rajkot Municipal Corporation,” Patel said. And then he hit upon a scheme - to use religion and Modi to shield his business from the authorities.“Constant fear of demolition bothered him. So, he first put up a picture of Bharat Maata. But that did not solve his problems. Meanwhile, Narendra Modi became the CM of Gujarat. He was a Modi fan since the CM had contested his first election from Gujarat. So, he put up a picture of Modi saheb,” said Patel’s friend Babubhai (name changed) over the phone.This ploy appears to have worked. Harassment from local officials reportedly decreased. Soon, along with Aum Paan Centre, Patel opened the Momai Tea Centre. He lived behind these kiosks. As his business began to prosper, he befriended Unghad, a small time property dealer and a primary member of the BJP. Both of them planned to “expand” the temple.Together, and mostly with financial help from Unghad, they constructed a small temple and began to offer prayers to Modi. Twice a day, Patel performed a Modi puja and chanted Modi hymns. He does not remember when he first started worshipping Modi, but he says that he came up with the temple at least “eight to nine years ago”.And then, Momai tea centre was chosen as one of the three venues for a chai pe charcha programme in Rajkot before the Lok Sabha polls last year. A large screen was set up and the local BJP unit provided chairs and other facilities for the programme.When asked on the phone why the party had chosen an illegal tea shop to beam its chai pe charcha programme, an office-bearer at Rajkot BJP office disconnected the call. However, the Gujarat BJP office mailed a list of venues that had been selected for the chai pe charcha programme. Their state’s party office also confirmed that entire list of their venues was available on its website. The roster mentions this temple venue at Hapaliya Park, Kothariya village.Patel was so thrilled to learn about his stall being chosen for chai pe charcha programme that he changed the name of his tea stall to Namo Tea Stall for a few weeks. “His earnings grew by over 100 per cent after the illegal tea stall was selected for the programme”, his friend claimed adding that “Shankar’s intentions have always been good”.After Modi became the PM, the number of customers at the tea and paan shop shot up. So, Unghad and Patel decided to “expand” their business and the temple. They recruited workers from Orissa to work on a three-foot Modi bust. They even expanded the temple located on the encroached government land. So far, they have spent over Rs 7 lakh on the temple. According to Babubhai, Patel and Unghad invited over 15 BJP leaders including Union Minister of State for Agriculture Mohan Kundariya who had earlier consented to attend the temple’s inauguration on February 15.“But the media spoiled the plan and now these BJP leaders are claiming that my friend is lying and that they never gave consent for the inauguration,” said Babubhai.Patel and Unghad were upset when they were told of PM Modi’s tweets expressing his displeasure over the temple. “Have seen the news about a temple being built in my name. I was appalled. This is shocking and against India’s great traditions,” Modi had tweeted.Meanwhile, the Kothariya gram panchayat and district collectorate, which have served eviction notices to Patel in the past have again warned him to find alternative accommodation in eight days.