Team News Riveting
Raipur, December 29
Godman Kalicharan Maharaj is in the thick of controversy for his derogatory comments against Mahatma Gandhi and hailing Nathuram Godse for killing the father of the nation.
While suspense prevails over the sequence of his statement as he did not touch the controversial issue during his main speech that he delivered at the Dharma Sansad held in Raipur, equally stimulating is his story of becoming a “saint” from a school dropout.
A resident of Shivajinagar in Akola, Maharashtra, his real name is Abhijit Dhananjay Sarag, coming from Bhavsar Samaj. Born in an ordinary family, Abhijeet’s father Dhananjay Sarag has a medical shop in Jayan Chowk, Akola.
The 48-year-old Kalicharan Maharaj was educated at the Town Zilla Parishad School in Peth area of the city. However, he has studied only till 8th standard. Those who know him closely say that even though he has not attended school, he has studied many scriptures.
Following fiscal constraints, his father sent him to his relative’s house in Indore. During his stay in Indore, Kalicharan started visiting Bhayyuji Maharaj’s ashram and soon became close to him. It was here that he attained the status of ‘Maharaj’. During his stay in Indore for many years, he adopted a unique costume and soon became famous among the people.
He is a true follower of Bhayyuji Maharaj, who committed suicide in 2018. Maharaj took the drastic step to end life as he was under stress. His secretary was constantly pressuring him to marry her after he quit the first wife. Police allege that she threatened Bhaiyyuji Maharaj of slapping police cases if he refused to do so. She had a screenshot of some objectionable chats which she used to blackmail Bhaiyyuji.
The Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) had blamed the then Shivraj Singh Chouhan government for putting pressure on Maharaj. “Madhya Pradesh government had put pressure on him to accept privileges and support the government, which he refused to do. He was under a lot of mental pressure. CBI probe should be done,” the then MPCC Media cell Chairman Manak Agarwal had said.
With vast followers across Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Bhayyuji Maharaj attracted national attention in August 2011 when anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare was on indefinite hunger strike for the Lokpal bill in New Delhi. When Anna Hazare refused any talk with the Union government led by Congress, late Vilasrao Deshmukh accompanied Bhayyuji to Anna.
According to reports, Bhaiyyuji coordinated with the then law minister, Salman Khurshid and Delhi MP Sandeep Dikshit and prepared a draft of Lokpal bill, which was acceptable to both the parties.
Bhaiyyuji had founded Shri Sadguru Datta Dharmik Evam Parmarthik Trust, Suryodaya Ashram in which Sharad Pawar was a trustee.
The Guru was one of the five godmen to whom Shivraj Singh Chouhan government in Madhya Pradesh had granted the status of Minister of State (MoS) in April 2018. Bhayyuji had, however, refused to accept the post, saying it holds no importance for a “sant”.
