Whiff of politics in baba-land Alwar

Yash Goyal In Jaipur

Ironically, babas are making juicy stories post Ram Rahim expose and shenanigans. Here is one from Alwar — known for its religious sects and ashrams, a place within the ancient Matasya (fish) kingdom. Phalahari Baba (70) was arrested in a rape case. The victim whose parents were followers of the Baba alleged that she was assaulted at his lavish ashram in Alwar on August 7. The episode has set the town aflutter, came as it did two months before a Lok Sabha bypoll, necessitated by the death of BJP’s Alwar MP Mahant Chandnath. 

There are about 50 small and big ashrams in Alwar district with thousands of babas and lakhs of followers from parts of northern India. Chandnath, who won the seat following the Modi wave in 2014, had lost only once: in 2004, against the Congress candidate. Years ago, the Congress during the heydays of Rajiv Gandhi’s tenure as PM had also approached one Joshi Heda, a priest of Neemrana belonging to an ashram, to contest the assembly polls in Narnaul in Haryana. But he had lost.

The arrest of Phalahari Baba was shocking. “This is an exceptional case,” says Pandit Rajendra Acharya, serving at Laxmi Narayan Mandir for over 25 years. “Phalahari was not known for this kind of conduct … he used a stick to touch any woman follower to shower his blessings.” He says the babas who enjoy political patronage were “outsiders” — those who have migrated from Haryana and UP. “Phalahari’s brother, Dharacharya Maharaj, serves in Ayodhya’s Asharfi Bhawan and is close to the ruling party.”

Sources close to Phalahari Baba say he is married, but his wife left when he arrived in Alwar some 30 years ago. The couple had a daughter who is married. The Baba got prominence within the BJP because of his campaign to contain religion conversions in Chhattisgarh. He ran a ‘gaushala’, an ashram and Ved Vidyalaya in the state. “He was also into property dealing and lending business. His property and assets are worth Rs 7 crore,” said a source. 

Soon after Phalahari Baba’s arrest, yoga guru Baba Ramdev came in a bid to save the image of resident babas. “Those who indulged in miracle, fashion and glamour and crime cannot be sadhus,” he told his followers. Ramdev also met a state cabinet minister and some local leaders known to be close to the RSS. The buzz was that Ramdev was trying to influence the selection of the BJP candidate for the bypoll. 

Alwar was once the capital of Khanzada Rajput dynasty. An important religious group, Nath Sampradaya, has originated from the historical Bhartrihari Dham, near Alwar. There is another well-known sect, the Ramanujcharya sampradaya whose proponents migrated from UP and Haryana. Political parties with an eye on vote banks have persistently wooed all such groups.

The Alwar seat was a Congress stronghold till 1984-89. The party has won 10 of the 16 LS polls. Yadav community candidates have won seven times. Congress’s Bhanwar Jitendra Singh, a close friend of Rahul Gandhi, lost in 2014. He is likely to be fielded again.