Padma Award for Kartik Maharaj fuels political debate in Bengal

Kolkata: Intense discussions have erupted in political circles after Kartik Maharaj, a Bengal monk accused of inciting communal tension in Murshidabad’s Beldanga ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, was named a recipient of the Padma Award.

Interestingly, Kartik Maharaj was seen several times with Suvendu Adhikari in the pro-Hindu group rallies at various places in Bengal.

Kartik Maharaj grabbed headlines for “wrong reasons” several times in the past.

He also made headlines for saying it was “India’s misfortune that Mohandas Gandhi is considered the Father of the Nation”.

He urged Hindus to start worshipping Chakradhari Krishna instead of Banshidhari Krishna — the warrior form of the deity Krishna rather than the romantic Krishna — and expressed his displeasure at how the Hindu society “misunderstands” the concept of non-violence.

PM Modi was also seen standing next to Kartik Maharaj during the election campaign. Kartik Maharaj was involved in a public spat with Trinamool Congress supremo and state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who criticised him for not allowing Trinamool agents to sit at his ashram, accusing him of doing “direct politics”.

On 18 May 2024, in the middle of the Lok Sabha polls, the Trinamool Congress supremo directly mentioned Kartik Maharaj’s name during her Arambagh meeting and said: “I respected Bharat Sevashram Sangh a lot, but I do not consider a person who does not allow Trinamool agents to sit as a saint. The reason is that he is destroying the country by doing direct politics.”

Kartik Maharaj joined the Bharat Sevashram Sangh as a teenager. He first went to an ashram in Purulia then to the Aurangabad ashram.

Meanwhile, Sadhvi Ritambhara, who was booked by the Delhi Police for provocative speeches on the Babri Masjid under Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code has been awarded the Padma Bhushan this year.