Mumbai: In the last one year, Dhirendra Krishna Shastri, popularly known as Bageshwar Dham Baba, of Madhya Pradesh has held at least five major ‘satsang’ (religious congregation) programmes in Maharashtra.
His growing prominence across the state is reflected in the packed darbars from Nagpur to Mumbai where his followers immerse in the chants of ‘Sita Ram’, ‘Siya Ram’ and are left gobsmacked on seeing his ‘miracles’
But, it is not just the common man under some sort of a spell of the ‘miracle-maker’ from Madhya Pradesh. Unlike in some states such as Bihar where he is held with scepticism, the ruling BJP and its ranks — on the face of it — in Maharashtra hold in high esteem.
That said, it is widely known that not very long ago, the ‘godman’ was said to be running away from rationalists of the same state.
Most of these ‘satsangs’ in Maharashtra are either organised by the state BJP and often the BJP leadership is seen at these events. While the Pune event organised in November by BJP Pune president Jagdish Mulik where Union minister Raosaheb Danve was present, the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar event was hosted by Union minister Bhagwat Karad the same month. Union minister Nitin Gadkari had attended one such event in Nagpur in the first week of January.
On the record, Maharashtra Cabinet minister and senior BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar denied that there were no ulterior motives behind hosting Shastri.
“This has no political relevance. These events are not political for us,” Mungantiwar told ThePrint. “Bageshwar baba is not for political gains, but for bringing minds together. It is for making our mind pure. If he would have had political influence, then everyone would have called him instead of PM Modi.”
Dhirendra Shastri hails from Madhya Pradesh’s Chhatarpur district and is the head priest at the Balaji temple of Bageshwar Dham. In the run-up to the Madhya Pradesh election, many BJP local leaders and Congress leaders were treading cautiously as they did not want to upset followers of ‘Bageshwar Baba’.
Eventually, Congress leader Kamal Nath hosted a three-day ‘Kathavachan’ (discourse) programme involving Shastri from 5 to 7 August in Nath’s home district Chhindwara.
Although he has been giving sermons for quite some time, he drew nationwide recognition for his dog-whistling against the Muslims. Another recurring theme in his speeches are calls for the unification of Hindus against an ‘enemy’, with threats of violence.
In his sermons, Shastri has widely propagated the idea of ‘Hindu Rashtra’ and urged the people to “unite for Sanatan Dharm”.
“We all are Hindu and are one. We will remain one. We will make India a Hindu Rashtra. We take oath today in front of Hanuman ji that we will not even look into other religions, won’t go there and if one of us gets converted, we will get the person back,” he repeated a couple of weeks back in Pune as well.
In the past, Shastri got embroiled in controversies for his statements such as the one he made about Sant Tukaram (January) and Sai Baba (April). His alleged misogynist statements against women also did not go unnoticed.
That has not stopped his followers from turning their back on Shastri in Maharashtra. Now, with the Lok Sabha elections in a few months, Shastri’s influence is also growing.
“The BJP has always been promoting the non-political entities who push their agenda,” political analyst Abhay Deshpande told ThePrint. “Earlier BJP, was instrumental in organising ‘shivirs’ for Ramdev. So, they promote such people who align to their agenda. But that doesn’t mean it will have a greater influence in Maharashtra. It won’t be a game changer but some impact can be felt.”
ThePrint has reached out to Bageshwar Dham temple trust via email. This report will be updated as and when a response is received.
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Influence in Maharashtra
For the past one year, Shastri’s growing influence in Maharashtra has been felt strongly, albeit not always for the right reasons.
At the start of this year itself, the ‘godman’ landed in a soup for the statement made about Sant Tukaram, a revered figure in Maharashtra, in a video that was shared widely.
“Sant Tukaram was a Mahatma from Maharashtra. His wife beat him daily. She used to beat him with a stick every day. Someone asked him, ‘Your wife beats you every day. Aren’t you ashamed?’ On that, Tukaram said, ‘It is God’s grace that I got a wife who beats me’,” he purportedly said in the video. Later, he had to apologise for his statement.
That did not stop BJP leaders from organising his programmes and attending them in the state.
In Nagpur, Gadkari spoke in glowing terms about Shastri. “We are fortunate that such an event is being organized in our Nagpur and guruji has blessed us today. I want to just pray to him that we get strength and inspiration to do good in the society,” the Union minister said.
In March, the ‘godman’ held his darbar in Mira-Bhayendar and Bhiwandi, outskirts of Mumbai, where the scene was no different. He performed ‘bhoomi pujan’ for Bageshwar temple. “Anti-religious forces are trying to finish us off, but the more they do it, there will be more Dhirendra Shastris in every house,” Shastri thundered.
The Bhiwandi programme was attended by BJP leader Manoj Tiwari and Maharashtra MLA Ravi Rana who supports BJP.
भूमिपूजन बागेश्वर बाला जी मंदिर,भिवंडी(मुंबई)
पूज्य सरकार के पावन सानिध्य में मुंबई महाराष्ट्र के उद्योगपति और पूज्य सरकार के अतिप्रिय शिष्य श्री रुद्रप्रताप त्रिपाठी ने पूजन अर्चना करके शुभकार्य को संकल्पित किया…इस मंगल कार्यक्रम में सरकार के प्रिय शिष्य श्रीमनोज तिवारी जी और… pic.twitter.com/xvO2ArRGDt
— Bageshwar Dham Sarkar (Official) (@bageshwardham) March 21, 2023
Shastri again drew censure In July for his statement that those married women who don’t wear a ‘mangalsutra’ or ‘sindoor’ are considered as empty flats.
Yogesh Mulik, former corporator and one of the ‘satsang’ organisers in Pune, vouched for the popularity of Shastri.
“His ‘satsangs’ are very popular and we wanted to hold a hanuman pathan and satsang so we arranged for his darbar in Pune,” Mulik told ThePrint.
At Pune’s durbar held 21 November, the Bageshwar Dham head sat on a white cushioned sofa with a microphone placed in front of it. A video from the event shows a woman with her toddler on her lap approaching him to find a ‘solution’ to her husband’s mobility impairments.
Shastri scribbles on his notepad and then asks her if she has told anyone about her problem at the venue, to which comes a reply, “No”. He then asks her to describe her problem.
“My husband met with an accident two years ago and is unable to walk,” she says.
“This is what I have written,” he says. “Husband met with an accident in October 2021. Is unable to walk. There is numbness in the body. Portion below the waist is problematic. He will get 40 percent relief with spiritual treatment. Doctors have given up,” he says.
“Bageshwar Baba ki jai,” the joyous woman says.
Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis and senior leader Chandrakant Patil were present at the Pune congregation.
Praising Shastri for his work towards preservation and promotion of Sanatan Dharma, Fadnavis said the entire country is waking up due to it. “They do not know the meaning of Sanatan. The meaning of Sanatan is eternal and that is the thought of Bharat, which binds all of us together… there is no scope for inequality,” he said.
Bump on otherwise smooth travel
As his fame grew in the state, Shastri drew the attention of another group — the rationalists. In January, rationalist Shyam Manavi challenged the ‘godman’ to show his miracles on 10 random people by correctly naming their fathers and give details of their addresses, as oftenly claimed by him with “the help from Lord Balaji.”
Later, the Akhil Bharatiya Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti founder lodged a complaint against him under the Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and Other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act, for promoting superstitious activities in his public programmes. The Nagpur police gave a clean chit to Shastri, saying that “nothing was found” that could attract action under the Act.
“We had challenged him to face us. But he is not doing so. What does it mean? In fact, according to the Black Magic Act, showing such things on television or publicising such acts is also an offence, but nobody is taking the act seriously,” Nandini Jadhav, the Pune head of Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti, told ThePrint.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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