Madhya Pradesh: Poll candidates congregate for divine intervention
BHOPAL: Special prayers and rituals at famous temples, including Pitambara Devi and Baglamukhi Devi temples in Madhya Pradesh for the poll success of politicians isn’t new. However, similar prayers and rituals being performed by priests in the jungles of neighbouring Kuno National Park (KNP) – the first habitat where cheetahs were reintroduced in India last year, are defintely a surprise.
A team of Hindu priests led by their guru Dr Pandit Batukacharya in Karahal village — neighbouring the buffer zone of the KNP (currently home to 14 surviving Namibian and South African cheetahs and one cub) – is engaged from over a month in performing special prayers and rituals for 15-20 candidates, who’ve contested the recent assembly polls in MP, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan.
While the 15-20 candidates of different political parties await with bated breath, the counting day (December 3), when the poll results will be out, the priests are offering at least seven hours of special prayers dailyat a Hanuman Temple, to pray for the poll success of their politician jajmans (clients).
Not ready to share the details of the politician clients, the head of the priests Dr Pandit Batukacharya told this newspaper on Sunday, “Our job is to pray to the Parmatama (god) for the electoral success of the jajmans, rest all is in the hands of the supreme power. All I can tell you is that the jajmans are around 15-20 from the three states where assembly polls were held recently, for whom all special prayers, particularly the prayers dedicated to Goddess Baglamukhi (one of the ten Mahavidyas) are being performed.”
“While some of the jajmans had gtaken oaths for the special prayers and rituals even before the poll dates were out (as they had already been assured of tickets from various parties), some others took it after the poll dates were out and their tickets were subsequently finalised. At least seven hours of special prayers (three hours in the morning and four hours in the evening) are being performed daily,” he added.
The Karahal village where the concerned temple is located is neighboured by the KNP’s buffer zone, which also houses the cave in which the head of these priests has been living for long. Importantly, the Karahal village and the KNP are part of the same Karahal development block in Sheopur district of MP’s Gwalior-Chambal region.
The village where the special prayers are currently being offered was among those villages, where one of the male Namibian cheetahs Oban aka Pawan was regularly straying in the summers of 2023, before being brought back into the safe enclosures.
‘Prayers for at least 15 candidates’
For candidates belonging to various political parties awaiting the verdict on December 3, the priests are offering at least seven hours of special prayers at Hanuman Temple in Karahal, near the Kuno National Park, for the success of their politician clients. A team of priests has been engaged in performing prayers for all candidates cutting across party lines in MP, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan.