Bhopal: In a bid to counter the ‘religious appeal’ of Sadhvi Pragya, BJP’s nominee for Bhopal Lok Sabha constituency, particularly among rural voters, Namdas Tyagi aka Computer Baba is going to stage a roadshow of seers here on May 8 in support of Congress candidate and former CM Digvijay Singh.
The computer-savvy seer, who had turned rebel after being denied ticket by BJP in last year’s Assembly election in Madhya Pradesh, announced here on Saturday that around 7,000 ‘sadhus’ hailing from 13 ‘Akharas’ (members of whom are followers of Shiva and Vishnu) in the country were going to join the roadshow, scheduled to be held on May 8 in Bhopal.
“The seers have given their consent to participate in the campaign for Mr Singh,” said Mr Tyagi, who incidentally was accorded minister of state (MoS) status along with four other religious leaders, by the previous Shivraj Singh Chouhan government triggering an uproar then.
According to him, the saints were scheduled to hold mass ‘hot yoga’ campaign ( a style of yoga performed in hot and humid conditions) for two days from May 7, which would culminate in a roadshow on May 8.
It may be noted here that Computer Baba was expelled from Sri Panch Ani Digambar Akhara, one of the 13 Akharas of sadhus in the country, and later barred from entering Mahakumbh in Prayag in Uttar Pradesh by the council of 13 Akharas in January this year, for accepting a government position then.
Congress veteran Digvijay Singh was also seen visiting temples and seers while campaigning in Bhopal constituency. Congress has already lodged a complaint with the EC seeking action against Pragya, describing her temple runs during the campaign ban period as a form of electioneering.
