Madhya Pradesh Government's controversial move to grant Minister of State (MoS) status to five religious leaders has raised eyebrows, with an apex organisation of 'akhadas' accusing the saints of blackmailing Shivraj Singh Chouhan and saying the Chief Minister should not have buckled under pressure.
The president of Akhil Bharatiya Akhada Parishad (ABAP), an umbrella body of 13 main 'akhadas' (religious orders) in the country, also said appropriate action would taken against the five saints if it is found they are associated with any such religious organisations.
Calling the five to introspect, Mahant Narendra Giri said, “The saints should not indulge in blackmailing. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan should not have buckled under pressure of the 'Narmada Ghotala Rath Yatra.”
“Now after getting the MoS status, the saints are saying that no scam has taken place and all was hunky-dory,” the revered Hindu pontiff noted, adding that the saints should not indulge in such black-mailing, opined and it was unbecoming of them to cancel a campaign after getting the MoS status.
"If they are accepting the MoS status for greed, it means that in true terms they have not renounced the 'carnal pleasures',” he said.
The State BJP Government on Tuesday accorded the MoS status to five Hindu religious leaders Narmadanand Maharaj, Hariharanand Maharaj, Computer Baba, Bhayyu Maharaj and Pandit Yogendra Mahant. The State goes to polls later this year.
The five saints had proposed a stir against an alleged scam in the State Government's Narmada conservation programme. A day after getting the 'MoS' status, two of them on Wednesday cancelled their proposed agitation.
The MoS status to the saints has marred their reputation, Giri said, adding that he would write to these religious leaders to introspect.