Political Fight Erupts As Chhattisgarh Police Arrest Kalicharan Maharaj From MP

Raipur: A political fight has broken out after Chhattisgarh Police arrested a religious leader from Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday.

While Chhattisgarh is a Congress-ruled state, the Madhya Pradesh government is headed by BJP.

A case was registered against Kalicharan Maharaj at Raipur’s Tikrapara Police Station on Sunday after he made provocative and derogatory comments against Mahatma Gandhi.

“I salute Nathuram Godse for killing Gandhi,” he had said while delivering a provocative speech at a Dharma Sansad organized in Raipur.

The religious leader, who had been on the run, was arrested from a rented house located 25 km from Khajuraho, Raipur SP Prashant Agarwal told ANI.

MP Home Minister Narottam Mishra cried foul, questioning Chhattisgarh police’s action without informing its MP counterparts.

“Inter-state protocol has been breached by Chhattisgarh police, Mishra said.

Kalicharan Maharaj’s provocative speech also targeted Islam and Christian.

“What is our prime duty — to save religion. We should elect a staunch Hindu king (leader) in the government irrespective of any party (he/she) belongs to… The target of Islam is to capture nation through politics. In front of our eyes, they had captured in 1947 (referring to partition)… They had earlier captured Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan. They captured Bangladesh and Pakistan through politics,” Kalicharan had said.

Amid a chorus of protests, Congress leader Pramod Dubey filed a complaint against Kalicharan Maharaj on December 26 based on which Raipur police registered an FIR.

Earlier this month, Kalicharan had made derogatory comments about Christians and Muslims at an event in Pune, prompting the police to register a case against him and five others.