In a drastic step, the office bearers of Nirmal Panchayati Akhada has on Monday removed Mahant Balwant Singh from the post of the akhada secretary, alleging that the Mahant had sold lands of the akhada to some realtors and land mafias. Swami Gyan Dev Singh presided over the meeting where the decision was taken.
It was also decided during the meeting that all the proposals forwarded by the Mahant would be kept on hold till the final decision was taken on them. The head of Peeli Kothi Allahabad Mahant Devendra Singh was made the acting secretary of the akhada. Notably, this akhada while following the tradition of Sanatana Dharma stresses on the significance of the symbols — ‘Om’ and ‘Omkar’— emblematic of the unity of Hindus and Sikhs.
After the meeting was over, Gyan Dev Singh said that Mahant Balwant Singh had sold the land of the akhada for his vested interests. “He has misused his position to build up his own property. Hence the meeting of the working committee convened to remove him from the position of the secretary,” he said. He further said that the image of the Akhada had been sullied because of the actions of such greedy persons. “The property of the akhada being a collective property of the society, nobody has a right to use it to serve his vested interests.” He further alleged that the Mahant had got trees felled in Nirmala Chhawani area to pave way for the residential flats to come up. “Such denuding the areas of trees would create trouble for the saints who pitch tents during the Kumbh and the Ardh kumbh mela,” he said, adding that they were planning to put the matter before the chief minister and the chief secretary. They had already submitted a memorandum to the district magistrate, he informed.
Nirmal Panchayati Akhada has land worth crores of rupees at various places. In the past, the seers associated with it came under the scanner after similar charges of selling lands cropped up.
The akhada insiders say that the drastic action against the secretary would help stem the tide of the murky deals a section of the seers are striking with the land sharks and the realtors.
Significantly, Gyan Dev Singh has written to the DM and the SSP, informing them of what prompted them to take the step. Insiders say that he has sought security, apprehensive as he is of retaliatory action from the expelled Mahant and the land mafias who are close to the Mahant.