Madhya Pradesh govt accords minister status to five religious leaders

Ahead of Assembly elections, the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh has accorded 'Minister' status to five religious leaders.

The government has accorded Minister of State status to Narmadanand Maharaj, Hariharanand Maharaj, Computer Baba, Bhayyu Maharaj and Pandit Yogendra Mahant.

These five ministers will enjoy the perks of a minister because of being a member of a committee set up for the conservation of the river Narmada.


"On March 31, these five religious leaders were appointed to a committee set up for the conservation of the Narmada river. As members of the committee, they have been given the MoS status," a General Administration Department official told PTI.

Criticising the decision, opposition Congress dubbed the decision as an attempt by the BJP to score the political points.

"It's a gimmick to score political points. This is also an effort by the chief minister (Shivraj Singh) to wash off his sins. He ignored conservation of the Narmada," Congress spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi said.

Reacting to Congress, State BJP spokesperson Rajnish Agrawal said the opposition party dislikes anything related to saints.

"Saints and seers were accorded the MoS status to make their work of environment and river conservation easy. The saints were roped in for the Narmada conservation work to ensure public participation," Agrawal said.

(Inputs from PTI)