Madhya Pradesh: BJP, Congress knock doors of saints as election nears

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan seeks blessings of spiritual leaders gathered from all over the country during Sant Sabha, organised by Raja Bhoj Ekal Abhiyan Samiti. PTI

BHOPAL: Saints and seers play a major role in Madhya Pradesh's politics. A glimpse of it was seen when Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan accorded the 'Minister of State' (MoS) status to five Hindu religious leaders in April this year. Two of them had refused to accept the honour while one, Computer baba, rebelled against the Shivraj government and resigned this month from his post accusing the ruling BJP of being "anti-religion". Computer baba, whose real name is Namdeo Das Tyagi, has accused the state government of "doing nothing" for the protection of cows and "destroying Hindu shrines, temples and dwellings of seers in the state". "(CM) Shivraj Singh Chouhan had promised that the Narmada river will be kept clean and illegal sand mining won't be allowed. But these promises were not kept. It has been established that the Shivraj government is anti-religion and we will bring it down," he said. Dwarka Peeth Shankaracharya Swami Swaroopanand Saraswat, who has influence in the Mahakaushal region, said the Shivraj government has not fulfilled its promises. "I am not a political person but it's apparent that the Shivraj government has not fulfilled its promises. They destroyed river Narmada. I urge people to see if they acted as per the promises made in the manifesto and then cast their vote," he said. Another saint Dev Prabhakar Shastri, whose followers include actors Ashutosh Rana and Rajpal Yadav, predicts tough time ahead for the Shivraj government. "If we compare 2018 elections to the previous three times, I believe it's going to be different this time," Dev Prabhakar Shastri, known as 'Dadhda ji', said. Also, political experts believe it's difficult for religious leaders to convert faith of their followers into votes for politicians visiting them. "Religious leaders don't often ask their followers to vote for any political party. But even if they do so, people don't cast their vote merely on their guru's call. They follow their intellect and vote according to their own views," Political expert Girija Shankar said.