BHOPAL/SAGAR: Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath on Monday met the controversial self-styled godman Dhirendra Shastri at Bageshwar Dham in Chhatarpur district. Shastri, the chief priest of Bageshwar Dham that attacts a large number of devotees, has advocated that India should be a “hindu rashtra”, and has also raised eyebrows with his large congregations where it is alleged that he furthers superstition by “granting wishes.”
Kamal Nath met Shastri for close to two hours after reaching Bageshwar Dham in MP’s Gada village a helicopter.
Neither Nath nor Shastri spoke on the details of their conversation.
Asked if he concurred with Shastri’s opinion on India being a “Hindu rashtra”, Kamal Nath said the country will be run in accordance with the Constitution. “Babasaheb Ambedkar has formed a Constitution for the country and the country runs on the basis of this Constitution,” he said.
Senior MP Congress leaders said that Nath prayed at the temple for the party’s victory in the assembly elections expected to be held in late 2023.
Nath also commented on a video that ostensibly shows the Panna district collector telling a group of villagers that the BJP will be in power for the next 25 years. HT has not independently authenticated the video.
“I tell you that the BJP can only use the only police, money and administration,” the Congress leader said, wondering if the Panna collector could say for how long he will continue to hold his own post.
MP BJP state president Vishnudutt Sharma said he welcomed Kamal Nath’s visit to Bageshwar Dham but asked if action would be taken against Congress people who attacked Shastri.
“Religion and religious leaders are an integral part of this country and politics is also not untouched by this. But Kamal Nathji should also clarify the double-faced attitude of Congressmen. The leader of Opposition in the state assembly Govind Singh attacked Bageshwar Dham. Will Kamal Nath ji ask the leader of the opposition Govind Singh to apologize or will Kamal Nath ji, as the president of the (MP) Congress, apologize?”