Gujarat-based spiritual leader Bhaishri Rameshbhai Oza Friday said the country should have a "national God" and maintained he sees Lord Ganesha as the "rashtra dev".
He said like the national anthem, national symbol and national animal, the country should also have a "national God".
Oza, who heads the Porbandar-based Sandipani Vidyapeeth, was speaking at the 9th Bharatiya Chhatra Sansad (BCS) organised by the MIT world Peace University and MIT School of Governance.
"We have national anthem, we have national symbol and we have national animal also... what we do not have is national deity. Someone says we are a secular country and how can we have a national deity when the God I am talking about is also a secular one," said Oza.
Comparing the characteristics of Lord Ganesha's appearancewith the leadership of the country, Oza said people call him Ganapati, but do not understand the inner meaning behind it.
"Like Lord Ganesha has long ears, the leadership of the country should also have long ears...it means, the leadership should have an ability to listen to all.
More From This Section
"In our country, there is a freedom of speech so the leader should listen to all the people even if he is not agreeing with some," he said.
He said lord Ganesha has small eyes compare to his face.
"A leader should possess a strong foresightedness and he should have a clear sight. Lord Ganesha has a big and prominent trunk (nose) and it means the leadership should be respectful and virtuous. Besides, he should have a quality to sense or smell future things," said Oza.
Explaining the importance of the big belly of the elephant-headed God, the religious preacher said the leadership should have a quality to go ahead by keeping all the secrets with him.
He said Lord Ganesha, who is a symbol of knowledge, has mouse as his vehicle and it signifies entrepreneurship.
"So when knowledge rides on entrepreneurship, the wealth (riddhi-siddhi) comes and this is the way, the development of the nation can be achieved."