Ahead of polls, New Zealand PM Ardern pays visit to Radha Krishna Temple in Auckland

New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Thursday visited Rha Krishna Temple in Auckland, ahe of national elections scheduled in September. A video of much-loved New Zeland PM's visit to temple has gone viral on social media.

In video, one can see  New Zealand PM getting out of her car and entering temple. Following Indian trition, she removed her footwear before entering temple. As she entered  temple, a conch shell is blown and temple priest started chanting Sanskrit Mantras. She participated in 'aarti' by standing with her hands folded as priest continued with  rituals. Ardern also accepted holy cloth put across her neck by priest after applying tika on her forehe. She also received 'pras' from priest.

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WATCH VIDEO HERE:

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NZ PM enjoys Indian veg meal

During her visit to temple, Ardern h a special vegetarian meal. Indian envoy to New Zealand Muktesh Pardeshi who was also present on occasion of PM ern's visit to temple said, "She paid a short visit to Rha Krishna Mandir and enjoyed a simple Indian vegetarian meal- Puri, Chhole and Daal."  Rha Krishna Temple is a part of Mahatma Gandhi Centre, run by Auckland Indian Association.

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PM Ardern launches re-election campaign

PM Ardern on August 8 launched her re-election campaign where she promised to boost ecomy by offering cash incentives to businesses in order to encour m to hire more people. Jacinda Ardern is comfortably ahe of her opponents as per opinion polls and is likely to win upcoming election, which is scheduled to take place on September 19. During launch of Labour Party's re-election campaign she promised a $205.32 million scheme that would see businesses receive $7,500 on aver to hire more people.

40-year-old liberal leer has garnered a lot of praise for her handling of coronavirus pandemic, both internally and from international community, which makes her frontrunner in race. 

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