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Women in yellow saris handing out packets of rice along with invitations, schoolchildren preparing for a Ramayana examination, and over a thousand volunteers working overtime to erect a massive waterproof dome. The Congress in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh is preparing to play host to Bageshwar Dham’s head priest Dhirendra Shastri in the village of Simariya in Chhindwara district from August 5 to 7. Chhindwara is the pocket borough of state Congress president Kamal Nath who is scheduled to attend the event along with his son Nakul.
The preachings of the 27-year-old Shastri, popularly referred to as “Bageshwar Baba”, are often laced with controversial statements. He routinely makes demands for the establishment of Hindu Rashtra and has organised “Ghar Wapsi” events at Bageshwar Dham, his home base, in Chhatarpur district. He was virtually an unknown figure till he made the headlines earlier this year after reportedly dodging a challenge thrown at him by rationalist Shyam Manav. Subsequently, his political clout grew as senior political leaders such as Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Home Minister Narottam Mishra, and Nath met him. Shastri, whose popularity is fuelled by his social media reach, has a sizable following in the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh, with thousands attending his sermons there.
Bundelkhand has 26 Assembly seats, of which the BJP won 20 in 2013 and the Congress six. Last time around, the Congress improved its tally to 10 while the BJP’s seat count came down to 14. Given the high electoral stakes, both parties are trying to win over Shastri.
In Madhya Pradesh, the Congress has not shied away from playing the soft Hindutva card to negate the BJP’s advantage and shield itself from the accusation of being an “anti-Hindu party”. Kamal Nath has organised several events over the past few years to portray himself as a Hanuman bhakt, set up a massive Hanuman idol in Chhindwara, and last month oversaw the merger of a Hindutva outfit called the Bajrang Sena with the Congress.
“Over two lakh people are expected to attend the event. The ‘katha’ will take place on 15 acres of land that will have a waterproof dome covering six acres. Special arrangements have been made for differently abled persons, including arrangements for their stay and food. The farmers whose farms will be used to host this event will also be compensated. We even expect some celebrities to be a part of this event. This is not a political event, we are also inviting BJP leaders to attend,” Congress Dharma Evam Utsav Prakosht’s district in-charge Anand Bakshi told The Indian Express. For several months, Bakshi has been supervising a team of 1,200 volunteers working to organise the event Shastri will attend.
The Congress has said that several women, who will participate in a Kalash Yatra on August 4, are travelling across the district to hand out invitations, along with rice packets, for the event and students are being encouraged to appear for a multiple choice exam on the Ramayana. “We have received applications from over 13,000 applications. They will give written examinations on the Bal Kand and the Sundar Kand. We have identified over 100-150 test centres for the exams. The first 110 students will be handed prizes and the top three students will be personally given prizes by Kamal Nath, Nakul Nath, and Shastri,” said Bakshi.
Hitting out at the Congress, BJP spokesperson Dr Hitesh Bajpai said, “Everyone knows that Congress are electoral Hindus, that is why they always welcome sadhus, sanyasis, and kathavachaks (storytellers) when elections approach. Their rallies are flop shows, they want to ride over the tide of Hindu dharma gurus. People know it very well, they will come and listen to Dhirendra Shastri and vote for Hindu Rashtra. Kamal Nath is daydreaming of votes. He will help the BJP.”
Congress state vice-president J P Dhanopia denied this was a political event. “The BJP keeps making baseless allegations. Kamal Nath is a devout Hindu and a Hanuman bhakt. He has been hosting religious events throughout the state. Religion is a question of personal faith and the Congress is faithful towards religion, unlike the BJP that uses it for political gains.”
Richa Goswami, who heads the Dharmik and Utsav Prakosth wing, has in the past talked about separating the concepts of Hindutva and Hinduism. Asked about the Shastri event, she told The Indian Express, “This event will help change people’s perception that Shastri talks about the BJP agenda. It will cleanse his image. But I think when a kathavachak speaks, he must only concentrate on his sermon and not stray into other subjects. There have been some statements that were made recently that can be seen as indecent or decent depending on the audience. Also, if he talks about a Hindu rashtra he must do that in his separate event and specify that he is talking about those points.”
