Jaipur: He wears saffron robes, heads the “secular” Mastnath Mutt of Rohtak in Haryana as its eighth Mahant, and is an MP from Alwar. Calling him a mirror-image of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adiytanath may not be completely wrong, as even geographically, he keeps the BJP flag aflutter in the west, complimenting Yogi’s presence on the other side of the country.
Small wonder that he is called the Yogi of Rajasthan! Baba Balaknath, the saffron sant, is the mutt head handpicked by the BJP to take on Imran Khan of the Congress in the Meo Muslim-dominated Tijara Assembly constituency, an area sandwiched between Haryana and Rajasthan in the Mewat region.
Balaknath has begun proving himself to the leadership, with his provocative and even absurd utterances. In a viral video, he recently equated his contest against Imran Khan with an IndiaPakistan cricket match.
He said: “The fight is not just for victory. It is also a battle for voting percentage. These tribes have come together and we need to thwart their plan by defeating them in terms of voting percentage, so that they do not conspire to unite in the future and defeat the Sanatan Dharma.” He did not mention which tribe was he talking about, but everybody knows, say poll observers.
The calmness in the region is deceptive as the divide among the communities is more brazen now, say political observers. The presence, or one may say, hand-holding of Adityanath, has only been incendiary. Adityanath was in Tijara for Balaknath’s nomination and later at a rally. The election posters all around Tijara, too, show the smiling Yogi and Balaknath together.
This story was originally published in deccanherald.com. Read the full story here .
