On 20 August 2026, a group led by Rajan Singh, a vice-president of the Bihar State Transgender Welfare Board, held a "Modi Chalisa" reading at the Press Club of India in Delhi. The Press Club of India says it did not organise the event. It says the hall was booked for a press conference, the booking terms were broken, and the event was stopped. This page explains what was held, what each side said, and what remains unclear.
Key takeaways
- The Modi Chalisa event took place on Thursday, 20 August 2026, in a hall at the Press Club of India in Delhi.
- The club said it did not organise the event and that the hall was booked as a press conference. It stopped the event, and on 22 August its president said show-cause notices had been issued.
- Rajan Singh told PTI that the board plans a Rs 112 crore temple on five acres. That figure is her own statement, not an approved budget.
- Another board member, Anupriya Singh, told Queerbeat the temple is Rajan Singh's personal agenda. The 29 July board minutes Queerbeat saw do not mention a temple.
- We found no reaction to the event from the BJP, the Prime Minister's Office, Mr Modi or the Bihar government.
What happened on 20 August?
According to a PTI report carried by The Federal, photos and videos from a hall at the Press Club of India spread online on Thursday, 20 August 2026. They showed people reading a devotional poem called the "Modi Chalisa". A chalisa is a poem of forty verses that is usually read in praise of a Hindu deity. The reading took place in front of a cutout of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Week described the scene in more detail. It reported a banner that read "Bhagwan Shri Narendra Modi Chalisa", an aarti (a ritual of waving a lamp) performed before the cutout, and chants of "Jai Jai Modi, Har Har Modi" in the style of aarti for Hindu deities. The Week also reported that the videos drew strong criticism online. Some critics said that showing a sitting politician as a god disrespects Hindu faith. Singh and her supporters see it as thanks for rights the community has received (see below). It said the cutout showed Mr Modi with a bow and a peacock feather in his crown. The Wire, in a later report, described the cutout as made of cardboard and said it seemed to show him as Lord Rama. The two outlets describe the costume differently, so we only say that the cutout showed him in a deity-like form.
Both PTI and The Week named Rajan Singh as a vice-president of the Bihar State Transgender Welfare Board. PTI and ThePrint have also spelled her first name "Ranjan" in earlier reports. We use "Rajan", as Queerbeat and The Wire do. Reports differ on how she is described, and Queerbeat calls her a trans woman and uses "she", while PTI uses "he". We follow Queerbeat.
What did the Press Club of India say?
The club posted a statement on X on the same day. According to The Federal, it said: "It is hereby clarified that the Club had not organised the event." It said an organisation had booked the hall for a press conference, that the organisation broke the rental terms, and that club officials stepped in and stopped the event.
Two days later, on Saturday 22 August, the club's president, Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty, issued a video statement, as reported by The Wire. In it she said:
- The event had no permission or approval from the club.
- The club is revising its standard operating procedures, or SOPs. These are the written rules for how halls can be booked. The Wire quotes her saying the old rules "worked until they didn't".
The club did not name which rental terms were broken in its first statement. The Wire's report gives more detail, covered below. The club's secretary general, Afzal Imam, told Queerbeat the club had nothing to do with the event and said, "It seems like a conspiracy to defame the press club." That is his view. Queerbeat does not report any evidence for it, and he also told Queerbeat the club would hold an enquiry.
The show-cause notices and booking rules
A show-cause notice is a formal letter asking someone to explain, in writing, why action should not be taken against them. According to The Wire, the club issued such notices after the event.
| Question | What The Wire reported the club said |
|---|---|
| Who can book a hall? | An event must be recommended by a club member, and that member must be present during the event. |
| Who recommended this booking? | A member recommended Rajan Singh for the booking. That member was not present at the event. |
| Who got notices? | The recommending member and others, for departing from the SOP and the agreed terms. |
| What was the main breach? | The hall was booked for a press conference. The club president said a ritual-style event was held instead. The Wire reports she said Singh and her team allegedly lit a live fire in a closed hall. We have no independent confirmation of that detail. |
| What happens next? | The club says it is reviewing the SOPs so this does not happen again. |
We have not seen the notices themselves. The details above come from The Wire's account of the club president's statement. We do not know the names of the people who received notices, and we do not know how they replied.
Who said what
| Person or group | What they said | Where it was reported |
|---|---|---|
| Press Club of India | It did not organise the event. The hall was hired for a press conference and the terms were broken. | The Federal (PTI), The Week |
| Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty, club president | The event had no permission. The SOPs are being revised. | The Wire |
| Rajan Singh | Said the board plans a Rs 112 crore temple on five acres. Said she sees nothing wrong with building the temple and that "Nobody should criticise it." | PTI via The Federal and The Week |
| Anupriya Singh, board member | Disputed Rajan Singh's claim that the board backed the temple unanimously and called the temple Rajan's "personal agenda". | Queerbeat |
| Prashant Kumar, lawyer | Filed a complaint with the PMO on 14 August asking for an inquiry. | Queerbeat |
What did Rajan Singh say?
Rajan Singh spoke to PTI on 20 August. PTI refers to Singh as "he" and Queerbeat as "she"; we use "she", as Queerbeat does. The quotes below come from PTI, as carried by The Federal and The Week. Singh made these points:
- The Bihar State Transgender Welfare Board plans to build a temple for Mr Modi in Bihar. She put the cost at Rs 112 crore on five acres of land in Bihar.
- She said Mr Modi ensured, in PTI's quoted words, that the transgender community got its rights "for the first time ever", and that people are now getting employment.
- She asked: "If we want to construct a temple for him, what is wrong with it?" She also said, "Nobody should criticise it."
- On the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Act, which critics say weakens the right to choose one's own gender identity, she said transgender people are not against the Act and that it was the Opposition that was criticising it.
The Wire reports that Singh has promoted the temple idea on social media and wants the Bihar government to pay for it and provide land. The Wire calls it the Amendment Act, 2026. We have not read the text of any 2026 amendment ourselves, so we do not describe what it says.
For more on who she is and what is publicly known, read our profile of Rajan Singh and the Bihar transgender board.
Who was the co-host, and what questions are unanswered?
Queerbeat reported on 21 August that Rajan Singh said she co-hosted the event with the Bharatiya Kinnar Samaj. She described it as a year-old organisation for transgender welfare and named Sem Williams as its head. Queerbeat said it could not find the group online, and that three prominent trans activists from Bihar told it they did not know the group existed.
That does not prove the group does not exist. It only means a reporter could not confirm it from public sources. We could not confirm it either.
Is the board behind the temple?
Rajan Singh told Queerbeat that the board backed the temple proposal unanimously on 29 July. Another board member, Anupriya Singh, disputed that. She told Queerbeat the temple is Rajan Singh's "personal agenda". Queerbeat also said it saw the minutes of the 29 July meeting and that they do not mention a temple.
Other outlets reported at the time that the board approved a temple proposal at that meeting. For the early reports, see our report on the board's approval of the proposal. These accounts do not agree, and we have not seen the minutes ourselves, so we cannot say which is right.
What is the PMO complaint reported by Queerbeat?
Queerbeat reported that on 14 August, Prashant Kumar, a human-rights lawyer who practises in the Patna High Court, filed a complaint with the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). The complaint asks for an inquiry into two questions. First, did Rajan Singh use the Prime Minister's name, designation or photograph for a private activity, so as to suggest government backing? Second, did she ask for money on that basis?
This is a complaint, not a finding. Queerbeat did not report any reply from the PMO, and we found none. Rajan Singh told Queerbeat she is not affiliated with the BJP. Queerbeat noted that her Facebook pictures show her with senior politicians. A photo with a politician does not show party membership or government support, and we draw no conclusion from it.
What we found no reaction to
A fair report should also say what is missing. Up to 24 October 2026, we searched for and found no published reaction to this event from:
- the BJP or any other political party, as an official statement about the Press Club event;
- the Prime Minister's Office or Mr Modi;
- the Bihar government or the Social Welfare Department.
We also found no report that land has been identified, that money has been sanctioned, or that a court case about the temple has started. If you know of an official statement, please send it through our contact page. For reactions that have been recorded, see our pages on political party perspectives and national media coverage. All our pieces on this theme are listed in the politics and reaction topic.
What we do not know yet
These points are unconfirmed as of 24 October 2026.
- Whether the Bihar government has agreed to provide land or money. Rajan Singh has asked for both, but we found no sign of an answer.
- Whether the Rs 112 crore figure is a real budget. It is her own number. We explain why it needs care in our fact-check of the Rs 112 crore figure.
- What action the club will take after the show-cause replies.
- Whether the Bharatiya Kinnar Samaj is a registered group, and who is in it.
- What the PMO will do about the complaint, if anything.
What does this event tell us about the temple?
It tells us less than the headlines suggest. A reading in a hall is not a building. It is not a land purchase, a trust or a government order. The event shows that one board member is publicly pushing the idea and that it drew strong criticism online, as The Week reported. It also shows that the board itself may not be united, if Anupriya Singh's account is right.
It does not show that a temple has been approved, funded or designed. Temples for living leaders have been proposed before, and our history pages cover those cases one by one.
You can follow the dates in order on our timeline page, and quick answers are on our FAQ page.
Common questions
Did the Press Club of India organise the Modi Chalisa?
No. The club said in a statement on X that it had not organised the event. It said the hall was booked for a press conference and the booking terms were broken.
Who is Rajan Singh?
She is described by PTI, The Week and The Wire as a vice-president of the Bihar State Transgender Welfare Board. Queerbeat identifies her as a trans woman. She proposed the Modi temple idea.
Has the Modi temple been approved?
We found no confirmation. Rajan Singh says the board asked for five acres and Rs 112 crore. We found no response from the Bihar government and no report of land or funds being given.
What is a show-cause notice?
It is a formal letter that asks a person to explain in writing why action should not be taken against them. The Wire reported that the club sent such notices after the event.
Sources
- The Federal (PTI), Press Club of India disowns Modi worship event, 20 August 2026
- The Week, Modi Chalisa organised at Delhi's Press Club sparks backlash, 20 August 2026
- The Wire, Modi Chalisa event hall was booked for press conference, says Press Club of India, 22 August 2026
- Queerbeat, A Bihar transgender welfare board member hosts a Modi Chalisa at the Press Club of India, 21 August 2026
Last checked on 24 October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us through our contact page.