Digvijaya Singh blames Shivraj Singh Chauhan government for Bhayyuji Maharaj's death
Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh has blamed the Madhya Pradesh government for the suicide of Bhayyuji Maharaj. The popular spiritual leader who counted some of the country's top politicians and celebrities among his followers, committed suicide on Tuesday by shooting himself in the head at his ashram in Indore.
"He (Bhayyuji Maharaj) was worried about illegal mining in the Narmada by the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led government and was offered the post of minister to shut his mouth...he rejected the offer and had told me about it on call," claimed Digvijaya Singh on Wednesday.
In April, the state's BJP government invited five '
sadhus' to be part of a committee for the conservation of the Narmada River.
'Minister of State' status was given to the five religious leaders including Computer Baba, Narmadanand Maharaj, Hariharanand Maharaj, Pandit Yogendra Mahant and Bhayyiji Maharaj as members of the committee.
The opposition Congress in the state had called it a gimmick by Shivraj Singh Chouhan to score political points and exploit the huge following of these Babas.
One of the members of the committee, Computer Baba before being given the MoS status had announced that he would take out a Narmada
Ghotala (corruption)
Rath Yatra, to expose massive corruption in river conservation work.
Bhayyuji Maharaj shot himself at his home on Tuesday
Born as Uday Sinh Deshmukh, the spiritual leader allegedly shot himself over "domestic issues" the police said and a
suicide note has reportedly been found in the room, indicating that the 50-year-old was "depressed".
During the India Against Corruption campaign of 2011 for a Lokpal watchdog, the UPA government had sent Bhaiyyuji Maharaj to persuade Anna Hazare to end his fast. Anna Hazare finally broke his fast after a dialogue with the spiritual leader.
Bhayyuji Maharaj had announced his retirement from public life in 2016.