Bhayyuji Maharaj: The curious case of a political trouble shooter

Before he pulled the trigger on his temple on June 12, Bhayyuji Maharaj had packed 50 years of his life with much more than any other average spiritual Guru.

Two marriages, a responsible house-holder for over 27 years, a doting father, an opulent life marked by love for high end cars - he also flaunted his collection of over 100 expensive watches and more than 400 sunglasses - an impeccable sartorial taste with a brief spell in a modelling career promoting textiles and with a strong appeal among youth with his remarkable ability to articulate their hopes and aspirations in both Hindi and Marathihe had everything going for him.

And even a week later, his suicide remains a mystery. The Congress has sought a CBI inquiry and voiced suspicion that the saint’s opposition to the sand mafia may have something to do with his death. In a short span of 20 years, he had emerged as a political trouble shooter for both the BJP and the Congress. Among people who would call on him were RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, former President Pratibha Patil, Lata Mangeshkar, former Maharashtra chief ministers Sharad Pawar and Vilasrao Deshmukh, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and his cousin Raj Thackeray.

He claimed his spiritual quest began when he was just five years old. He married when he was 22 and barely a year later, he began giving discourses. He was not into selling dreams. Instead he spoke of development, national integration and humanity. By 2002, he had become close enough to various political leaders and had started acting as a trouble shooter. When the then Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Vilasrao Deshmukh, faced a no-confidence motion moved by the Sena-BJP combine, Vilasasrao sent 51 of his MLAs to Bhayyuji for safe keeping and after a fortnight’s suspense, his government survived. Pratibha Patil had also sought his blessings and support to become the first woman President of the nation.

In 2011, he was asked by the Congress to persuade Anna Hazare to end his fast at Ramlila Maidan and in the bargain Bhayyuji got branded as a political saint. He was again roped in to get the then Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, to break his much-hyped Sadbhavana fast in 2011. Last year, when Narmada activist Medha Patkar staged an indefinite fast to support the displaced persons of Sardar Sarovar Dam, Bhayyuji was one of the mediators sent by the government to persuade her to end the fast.

In April this year a controversy was triggered by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s claim to have planted six crore saplings along the Narmada river. Some saints disputed the claim and announced a yatra to expose the chief minister. Shivraj Singh Chouhan staged an overnight coup by announcing ministerial berths to four saints. While two of the saints accepted the offer, Bhayyu Maharaj turned it down.

Strangely, however, neither the police nor the guru’s associates or the media have so far tried to explore a link between the two attempts on his life and the stress he was going through. On May 11, 2016 Bhayyuji Maharaj survived two attacks on his car, once when a truck allegedly rammed his car and subsequently when some miscreants stoned his vehicle some distance down the road. He held a press conference to claim that he would announce the big names involved in planning the attack. The chief ministers of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh had then visited his house along with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat.

Curiously, the issue never cropped up after that. The police released only a part of the suicide note Bhayyuji reportedly wrote which said he was stressed out and fed up. The second part that handed the responsibility of property and children’s care to trusted assistant Vinayak Dudhale (47) was only read out and not handed to the media. Vinayak has been associated with the Bhayyuji Ashram and his family for the past 16 years. His second marriage in 2017 to Dr Ayushi, 12 years his junior, has been cited as a reason for his distress in addition to the uneasy relationship between his daughter from the first wife Madhavi.

He doted on his daughter Kuhu alias Kalyani (17) and the daughter’s inability to accept his second marriage may have led him to take his life is the most common explanation being bandied around. Curiously, he had announced renunciation a year before his second marriage. At a convocation in Kolhapur’s DY Patil University, he declared that his life was changing unexpectedly and he wanted to give up worldly life. The marriage next year therefore dented his image of a spiritual Guru.

The Sadguru Dutta Dharmik evam Paramarthik Trust that he had set up at Indore, has 20 branches across the country and are involved in educating orphans, helping destitute women and improving the lives of the downtrodden. His daughter Kuhu broke from tradition and lit the funeral pyre of Bhayyuji. Most politicians who made a beeline to him were conspicuous by their absence.