A BAPS-linked visit triggered a gender-discrimination controversy, a one-day Eiffel Tower shutdown, a management investigation and cross-party political condemnation in France. But it also brought the lens on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s connection with BAPS, which is longstanding, personal, religious-cultural and politically useful for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).The Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, or BAPS, is a global “socio-spiritual” sect which worships Swaminarayan, a yogi from the late 18th and early 19th century they refer to as ‘bhagwan.’ The sect was founded in 1905. In recent times, however, BAPS has been pushed as the vehicle of Modi’s Hinduism globally, his presence and patronage of any temples abroad have been public knowledge. While there are many BAPS temples globally, Modi had a special statement to make for the temple BAPS has inaugurated in Paris, and before that in Abu Dhabi, where Modi was personally present and which BAPS called a “millennial moment”. Meanwhile, realising its place in the Modi scheme of things, ambassadors visit and post about BAPS temples too.A perfect first stop for Holi! Visited the @baps Swaminarayan Akshardham temple with @DeputySecState Landau and @US_SpaceCom General Whiting. This extraordinary temple showcases India’s spiritual heritage and enduring values. @DelhiAkshardham Wishing everyone a very HAPPY HOLI! pic.twitter.com/nGgtZDK2yB— Ambassador Sergio Gor (@USAmbIndia) March 4, 2026Here are four ways in which the controversy around BAPS’s views about women which came right to the front in Paris, hurt Modi, the BJP and India:1. BAPS is tied closely to Modi’s political brand abroadWhen BAPS ran into trouble over possible violation of labour laws in the United States, it hurt optics badly. BAPS being forced to apologise after the Eiffel tower fiasco and having to explain what is seen as exclusionary and misogynistic, this controversy has hurt Modi directly. At a time when the BJP is flailing and struggling to respond to the Leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Smash the Patriarchy’ pitch, and the Delimitation bill is sought to be repacked as a women’s reservation bill, this incident is a slap in the face of ‘Nari Vandan’ and to the claims of supporting ‘Nari Shakti’, while it is also damaging Modi’s personal credibility abroad for being closely associated with a sect that wants women disappeared from a global tourist site.2. That this has happened in the heart of Europe, in ParisAs scholar Christophe Jaffrelot said in an interview with Karan Thapar, this hurts India as the recent pitch for the Indian ‘civilisation’ brand has been about being Hindu, or ‘New India’, which is apparently superior to a plural India or other world civilisations with words like Vishwaguru, Mother of Democracy, Mother of Science and Philosophy defining it. Organisations like BAPS globally celebrate the same things and when shown up as misogynistic in a large European city, the ideas that this version of India stands for get exposed.The BAPS-Modi connection became relevant because the Paris visit followed the inauguration of BAPS’s new temple near Paris, which Modi had publicly endorsed. French and international coverage consequently placed the Eiffel Tower dispute within a broader story about the globalisation of misogynistic Hindu religious institutions, India’s religious diplomacy under Modi, the role of diaspora organisations in furthering BJP’s political agenda and BAPS’s past infractions in various countries.France 24 presented the episode as discrimination against women, foregrounding the workers’ claim that female employees were made “invisible” and the Eiffel Tower operating company’s admission that BAPS had requested arrangements limiting interactions with women. SETE, the operating company that runs the Paris landmark, said those conditions “should not have been accepted.” Le Figaro treated the issue as a direct challenge to French principles of equality, neutrality and non-discrimination. It reported that BAPS representatives had requested that the spiritual leader’s visit be organised while limiting his “interactions with women.”Libération gave the story a sharper political and feminist framing, describing the alleged sidelining of women as the “invisibilisation” of female staff at an iconic public monument. Le Monde emphasised the employees’ description of being “excluded, replaced and made invisible because of their sex.”The episode received unusually broad condemnation across the French political spectrum: National Assembly President Yaël Braun-Pivet said women should not be compelled to step aside to satisfy foreign visitors; Marine Le Pen said France would never accept women’s presence being “limited”; and former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal argued that no culture, religion or belief could dictate women’s place.3. Indian diplomats have been promoting BAPSIndian diplomats abroad, including its embassies, have been led by the foreign minister to pitch for this Hindu version of India. They had been in the forefront pushing for BAPS and promoting this temple too. In 2024, as per the BAPS website, “in partnership with various Indian Consulates, BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha organized a series of Consular Camps across the country. These events served as accessible hubs for the Indian community to obtain crucial consular services such as passport renewal, Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) assistance, visa guidance, and document processing close to home.” BAPS receives official embassy and ministerial delegations too. In fact, external affairs minister S. Jaishankar had visited the BAPS Hindu Mandir in Abu Dhabi in 2024 with a delegation of senior officials from the Indian Embassy in the UAE, including Ambassador H.E. Sanjay Sudhir. So, it is hard to escape from the charge that BAPS, and what it stands for, are accepted and part of official India abroad.Un moment de joie pour la communauté indienne à l’occasion de l’inauguration du Mandir BAPS Swaminarayan à Paris. Construit grâce à l’artisanat indien et à l’ingénierie française, le Mandir s’impose comme un symbole du patrimoine artistique et spirituel de l’Inde, portant le… pic.twitter.com/1GBdBTq2Uw— India in France (@IndiaembFrance) September 7, 20264. BAPS has exposed conservative Indian opinionBAPS, seen as a stand-in for Hindu values and ideas, has exposed parts of Indian conservative opinion that are deeply patriarchal to the world. The push for ending ‘Triple Talaq’ as a way of liberating Indian Muslim women from regressive Muslim men has been an important part of the BJP’s political package for more than a decade. However, the superiority over ‘regressive’ Islam – as it covers up women – receives a blow with news getting out that 100 Swaminarayanists do not want women present at all at their event. The Swaminarayan sect, seen as having close ties to the BJP, Narendra Modi and therefore, to India’s official establishment, used to be more about large temples in big Western cities and the Akshardhaam temple built on the Yamuna river bed in the national capital. Its outing as a sect promoting misogyny hurts the projection, and by implication, attempts to carve the Indian nation as one that subscribes to these values. The political significance of this episode comes from Modi’s highly public and supportive association with BAPS, especially his role in promoting its overseas temples as embodiments of Indian culture.