Top leaders of all parties wooed godman'
Among top Congress leaders who had queued up to seek his blessings were Digvijay Singh, Ashok Gehlot, Motilal Vora and Kamal Nath.
New Delhi: Controversial godman Asaram Bapu, convicted of rape on Wednesday, had rubbed shoulders with the high and mighty of Indian politics. In their bid to woo Asaram, who had crores of followers, political heavyweights ranging from former Prime Ministers, chief ministers, and top political leaders of every hue and colour made a beeline to pay obeisance to this man.
In the 2015 Bihar Assembly polls, striking back at the BJP for its attacks on Bihar CM Nitish Kumar on the issue of meeting a tantrik, the JD(U) had dug out an old photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi meeting Asaram Bapu. Mr Kumar was then part of the JD(U)-RJD-led Grand Secular Alliance.
After the conviction, the Congress released a video of Mr Modi with the controversial preacher. The video shows Mr Modi, during his tenure as Gujarat chief minister, sharing a dais with Asaram. The Congress’ INC handle tweeted: “A man is known by the company he keeps.”
However, actor-director Farhan Akhtar took the Twitter route to criticise those posting old pictures of Asaram with politicians. According to him, it wasn’t a crime if someone was associated with Asaram before he was accused or found guilty.
“So Asaram is a child rapist. And he has been found guilty. Good. But can people please stop sharing images of him with Prime Minister Modi. Patronising him before he was exposed to be a pervert is no crime. Let’s be fair and give him the benefit of doubt that he, like us, did not know,” tweeted Akhtar.
Former Prime Ministers who had visited Bapu include Atal Behari Vajpayee and H.D. Deve Gowda. BJP chief ministers Vasundhara Raje, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Raman Singh and Prem Kumar Dhumal and Akali Dal’s Prakash Singh Badal had reportedly offered state guest status to Asaram. Among top Congress leaders who had queued up to seek his blessings were Digvijay Singh, Ashok Gehlot, Motilal Vora and Kamal Nath. Other top leaders like L.K. Advani, Farooq Abdullah, George Fernan-des and Raghuvansh Prasad Singh had often shared the dais with the convict.