Over three lakh people expected at Bageshwar Dham Baba’s preaching session in Patna

The sessions come amid a caste churning in Bihar in the wake of the now-stayed caste census. Bhahwat Sharma, head of Savarn Sena (an organisation of upper castes), Thursday conducted a parade of volunteers who, he said, would offer “extra protection” to the religious preacher.

Shastri, popularly known as Bageshwar Dham Baba or Maharaj, is peethadhish of Bageshwar Dham, a pilgrimage site in Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh.

The function’s organising committee head, Amrendra Kumar, said, “We are expecting people to arrive from all across the state and also from adjoining states Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand and even Nepal.”

RJD leader and former minister Tej Pratap Yadav said last week, “If Baba Bageshwar is coming here for good and motivational preaching, it is alright. If he makes any attempt to create divisions in society on religious lines, we will be the first to oppose it.”

BJP OBC Morcha national general secretary Nikhil Anand shot back that it was the RJD that always deploys religious and caste polarisation.