BHOPAL: In what is being seen as a fresh addition to Kamal Nath-led Congress’s brand of saffron politics in assembly poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, Nath’s son and party’s lone Lok Sabha member from the state, Nakul Nath, has organised a three-day mega Hanumat Katha event in Chhindwara district – which since 1980 has been Nath family’s political pocket-borough.
The Hindu religious event is being held at a massive venue close to the Hanuman Temple built by Kamal Nath in Simariya area. The discourse will be rendered by Hindu Rashtra supporter and self-styled godman, 26-year-old Dhirendra Shastri to a large gathering of Hanuman devotees, including former MP CM Kamal Nath. Just two days before the grand religious event had begun; the young Hindu godman (who is the Peethadhiswar of Chhatarpur-based revered Hanuman shrine Bageshwar Dham) had described the former CM Kamal Nath an ardent Hanuman devotee and his son Nakul Nath as a proud host of the three-day Hanumat Katha.
Nakul Nath, in a video message, had invited devotees to the Katha venue, where food and stay will be free.
While Kamal Nath has visited and met the young godman, Dhirendra Shastri, in Bageshwar Dham in the past, other leaders of his party, including Leader of Opposition (LoP) Dr Govind Singh and Nath’s key loyalist and ex-minister Sajjan Singh Verma, have been harsh critics of him.
In the last year and half, several BJP leaders, including key ministers, Gopal Bhargava, HS Dang, OPS Bhadoria and Govind Singh Rajput, have hosted similar kathas by Dhirendra Shastri, where CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, too was present. But this is the first time that a Congress leader – Chhindwara MP Nakul Nath – is hosting katha by Shastri. The katha will continue till August 7.
As per sources, a similar katha by by Shastri is likely to be held in Chourai assembly segment of Chhindwara district in September. Importantly, the ruling BJP too has been aggressively pursuing its Hindutva agenda in the state and the CM has announced multiple religious corridors in various religious hotspots of the state (on lines of Ujjain’s Mahakal Lok).
Pursuing Hindutva
The ruling BJP has been aggressively pursuing its Hindutva agenda in the state and the CM has announced multiple religious various corridors in religious hotspots. It is the first time a Congress leader is hosting the katha