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Updated: May 12, 2016 08:39 IST

Republican frontrunner Donald Trump may be facing a lot of hostility back in US but a section in India is praying for his win in the race to the White House.

The Hindu Sena, a right wing group, performed a hawan (religious ceremony) at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on Wednesday to pray for his victory in the US presidential elections.

Trump, who has emerged as the frontrunner to be the Republican Party’s nominee for the presidential polls, has had a controversial run during the primaries due to his views on women and minorities in the US.

Read | Why a Trump presidency may be good for India

Hindu Sena organised a hawan in support of Donald Trump at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Wednesday. (Arvind Yadav/HT Photo)

Activists of the Hindu Sena smeared a photo of Trump with vermillion amid religious chants at the hawan at the Jantar Mantar.

The ceremony started at 12.30 pm — a mahurat decided by priests over two weeks ago -- where posters of Trump were put up to evoke the gods to help in his victory. Along with pictures of Hindu gods Shiva and Hanuman, were pictures of Trump smiling with captions, ‘We support Trump’.

“The whole world is screaming against Islamic terrorism, and even India is not safe from it,” said Vishnu Gupta, founder of the Hindu Sena nationalist group. “Only Donald Trump can save humanity.”

Read | Indian MPs root for Clinton over Trump in US presidential race

Hindu Sena holding We Support Trump posters at the hawan near Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Wednesday. (Arvind Yadav/HT Photo)

“We want Donald Trump to win the presidential polls. He has promised to uproot Islamic terror and we support this ideology,” said Gupta.

Gupta believes that it is only Trump, who has the “guts to stand by his promises of eradicating Islamic terrorism”.

“I have been a follower of his speeches and the world needs a strong leader like him to be able to counter Islamic terror groups. Especially for a country like ours, which has bitter relations with our neighbours, we need a strong anti-terror policy to keep the terrorists at bay,” he said.

Gupta is also planning to organise a march outside the American Embassy, later this month, so that all US-based Indians support Trump in the race for president.

“The world has become a single unit now, and I want our Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, to support and campaign for Trump,” said Gupta.

Sunil Kumar, a member of the group, said that the aim of the one-hour hawan was to ward off terror groups such as ISIS, and al-Qaida.

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